Daniel Simpson-Leek interviewed by Claire McHugh

Interview with Daniel Simpson-Leek recorded by Claire McHugh on 29 May 2026. Total duration: 1 hour 5 minutes 59 seconds. [Start of interview, track 01] Childhood in Milton Keynes, in close-knit community, outdoor interests and friendships. Education, attending Stantonbury Campus, a large, liberal and culturally diverse school where teachers were called by first names and students were treated as mature. Studying criminology and sociology at A Level, choosing to take a gap year before university, and choosing Coventry University. His experience at university, hobbies, part-time job, how he met his future husband. Life and work after university, between Coventry and Milton Keynes, job at a bank, job at a law firm, relationship with his boyfriend. Coming out to his parents, their reaction. Work in insurance claim, how he felt about it, then working in counter-fraud, enthusiasm for counter-fraud work, workplace cultures in places he worked then. He talks about the legalisation of same-gender marriage and consequently getting married to his partner, adopting a child together. He details the adoption process they went through with his husband, how social services are more experience working on adoption by same-gender couple, the types of questions and training they went through prior to adopting. [00:27:13] He reflects his parenting experience, family life, paternity leave, returning to flexible work, and coping with the disruption of Covid-19 pandemic. Redundancy during the pandemic, led him to join Network Rail (NR) in May 2021 as a Counter Fraud Data Analyst. He explains that NR’s counter-fraud work protects public money, investigates expenses, supplier fraud and collusion; working with British Transport Police [BTP] and others to gather evidence and prosecute cases. He joined Archway, NR’s LGBTQIA+ network, having previously led an LGBTQIA+ network, and was keen for it to benefit its wider membership, including gay parents and those under-represented in leadership. [00:41:19] He describes organising Archway conferences, arranging speakers on topics including transgender experiences and hate crime, and navigating the logistics of venues, costs and strong personalities. He discusses changes planned for the re-nationalisation of the railways, under Great British Railways (GBR), he acknowledges the experiences of LGBTQIA+ colleagues within NR can be very different dependant on the type of role held, whether office-based or working on trackside, NR’s male-dominated workforce. His role including counter-fraud and Whistleblowing line, investigating reports of homophobia. He praises NR support to staff networks and questions about whether support will continue as structures change. He values public-sector counter-fraud work and talks about future career progression. [end of track 01] [Track 02] He describes working with a colleague who is also a same-gender adopter, how they created together an Archway conference session on adoption for same-gender couples. Interest was greater than expected, leading to an online session and then an adoptive parent support group at NR, open beyond LGBTQIA+ staff, with monthly catch-ups. [00:05:00] He reflects further on parenthood and adoptive parenting. He hopes that the move to GBR will protect structures supporting minority groups and continues to make progress. [end of interview]

This interview was made as part of People Pride and Progress (PPP) project. The project was initiated in 2023 to record the stories and memories of the LGBTQIA+ community in a new oral history archive over two years. It aimed to connect past, present and future through intergenerational interviews, offering opportunities for colleagues across all parts of the rail industry to connect, reflect on and learn from each other’s lived experiences while creating an archive of oral history interviews.