Carl Cashman: The "UK's Hottest Politician" On Why Gay Men Love Him - And Why He's Fine With It

The straight Lib Dem councillor sat down with Boys! Boys! Boys! to talk gym selfies, progressive politics, and his claim that 80% of Lib Dem members are "probably LGBTQ+."

There's a strange and specific phenomenon in queer culture where a straight man who is genuinely, uncomplicatedly comfortable around gay men becomes something of a folk hero. Carl Cashman is that man — and he knows it.

The 34-year-old Liberal Democrat councillor and leader of the Lib Dem group on Liverpool City Council has built a following that most backbench politicians would kill for, and almost none of it is because of policy documents. His Instagram — populated with shirtless gym selfies and a grin that suggests he knows exactly what he's doing — has earned him the title of "UK's hottest politician" and a fanbase that skews heavily towards gay men.

So when he sat down with Graeme Smith at the Boys! Boys! Boys! Gallery Café in Fitzrovia, the first question was obvious: what does a straight Lib Dem councillor from Liverpool make of being a gay icon?

Cashman, to his credit, doesn't flinch. He's been posting gym photos since he was 19 and has no intention of stopping because he got elected. "I didn't get into politics to change who I am as a person," he said. "And I wouldn't expect anyone to do that. This is the reason I'm a Liberal. I actually think that the best thing about the world is how different people are."

He's aware that not everyone in politics agrees. He's had advice to "be careful" about what he shares online. His response? If voters don't like who he really is, that's their call. "I would rather them make that decision based on who I am as a person and not this robotic politician."

The conversation moved to meatier ground. Asked why disillusioned queer voters should consider the Lib Dems, Cashman made a claim that raised eyebrows when PinkNews picked it up: "80% of Liberal Democrat members are probably part of the LGBTQ community." The party doesn't collect data on members' sexuality or gender identity, so the stat is unverifiable — but it speaks to something real. The Lib Dems have historically attracted LGBTQ+ members and voters in numbers that outstrip their overall electoral share. Whether it's 80 per cent or something considerably less, Cashman's point is that the party's membership looks and feels like the community it claims to represent.

His pitch for liberalism was simple and hard to argue with: "Liberalism to me is about being able to be unashamedly yourself and not being judged for it. As long as you're not impacting on someone else's life, you should be able to live exactly the life that you want."

At a time when Labour is haemorrhaging queer support and Reform is polling uncomfortably well among gay men, that message lands differently than it might have a year ago. Cashman isn't offering revolution. He's offering something rarer in 2026 politics: sincerity without performance.

Whether that's enough remains to be seen. But if the gay internet has anything to say about it, Carl Cashman isn't going anywhere.

Highlights from this interview are available now on the Outcast World podcast — listen wherever you get your podcasts.