April 2024

48
Wanstead Village Directory
The Lord Shamash
Local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash is delighted to announce that
Gerald Shamash, a partner in the firm, has become a member of the
House of Lords, having been made a life peer
The King has conferred a peerage
on Gerald Shamash, who is now a
member of the House of Lords, and
henceforth known as The Lord Shamash.
This distinction reflects a lifetime’s work on
the part of Gerald in the fields of politics
and the law.
“Gerald Shamash is highly regarded for
his work for the Labour Party, advising on
legislative proposals, parliamentary rules
and the reformation of election law, and is
described as ‘peerless’, ‘a legend’, ‘one in a
million’, and ‘the god of election law’,” said The
Legal 500, the world’s leading legal directory.
If you keep updated with the news, you
may have seen, read or heard about Gerald
Shamash many times: with his involvement in
cash for honours; MPs’ expenses; leading the
likes of Alastair Campbell and Paul Gascoigne
through a media scrum; talking live on the
BBC about Prince Harry’s hacking trial in
2023; or you may have read about the legal
aid lawyer who helped a senior politician in
1983 with his late-night dash to the Royal Mail
sorting office, armed with a judge’s order
to prevent delivery of politically damaging,
inaccurate leaflets.
Gerald founded his firm, Steel & Shamash
in 1981, which merged with Edwards Duthie
in 2019. Since 1990, Gerald has advised the
Labour Party on electoral and legal issues.
Politics was around in Gerald’s early life. His
family moved from Manchester to London in
1964 for the election of his brother-in-law to
Parliament. For Gerald, however, law was not
always his ambition. He had a place at King’s
College London Dental School that he did not
take up; he decided he didn’t want to become
a dentist. He then subsequently started his
degree course and embarked on his law
exams and articles to become a solicitor.
Fast-forward to the present, almost 50
years since qualifying as a solicitor in 1976,
Gerald heads up Edwards Duthie Shamash’s
parliamentary, electoral and media law
practice, and is widely regarded as one of the
pre-eminent specialists on electoral law in
the UK as well as being a veteran practitioner
in media disputes in the High Court. “He’s
extremely experienced, knowledgeable
and able to navigate the often blurred lines
between the legal and political fields. He has
excellent political judgement and a strategic
legal mind,” said a spokesperson for Chambers
and Partners.
The King making Gerald a life peer reflects a
lifetime’s work and relentless dedication on
the part of Gerald in the fields of politics, the
law and the people’s access to justice.
Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at
149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For
more information, call 020 8514 9000 or
visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk
To advertise, call 020 8819 6645 or visit wnstd.com