Rev. Richard Coles was born in Northampton, England, is an English musician, journalist and Church of England priest.
Vicar of Finedon in Northamptonshire, he is known for having been the multi-instrumentalist who partnered Jimmy Somerville in the 1980s band The Communards, which achieved three Top Ten hits, including the No.1 record and best-selling single of 1986, a club/dance version of Don't Leave Me This Way. He appears frequently on radio and television as well as in newspapers. In March 2011 he became the regular host of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live.
Coles was educated at the independent Wellingborough School (where he was a choirboy) and at the South Warwickshire College of Further Education (Department of Drama & the Liberal Arts) in Stratford-upon-Avon. He later attended King's College London, where he studied theology from 1990. He was awarded an MA, by research from the University of Leeds in 2005, for work on the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Coles is openly gay, and lives with his civil partner, the Rev. David Coles {né Oldham), in a celibate relationship.
