Anthony Gifford was educated at
Winchester College and
King's College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar in 1962 and
took silk in 1983. He was a co-founder of the North Kensington Neighbourhood Law Centre, Britain's first law centre, giving free legal advice. He founded Wellington Street Chambers and was its head for 15 years. He joined 8 King's Bench Walk in 1989 and from 2001 was head of Chambers. In 2006, the chambers relocated to 1 Mitre Court Buildings, remaining there until 2014. He was Counsel for Paul Hill in the
Guildford Four appeals and for Gerry Hunter in the
Birmingham Six appeals. He was a prominent member of the anti-apartheid group
Lawyers Against Apartheid. Gifford sat on the
Labour benches while in the House of Lords. The passing of the
House of Lords Act 1999 removed his automatic right to sit in parliament, and he was excluded on 11 November 1999. Gifford's autobiography,
The Passionate Advocate, was published in 2007. ==Reparations campaign==