The author Leo Rosten defines chutzpah as follows: a man kills both his parents and then throws himself at the court's mercy on the grounds that he is an orphan.

The political activist Peter Tatchell also employs chutzpah as a means to an end. For example, earlier this year he stopped Tony Blair's motorcade by running out, suffragette-style, in front of his limousine, ending up under the wheels. It was a way of drawing attention to his protest against the invasion of Iraq. Last year, he twice attempted a citizen's arrest on Robert Mugabe, and got himself beaten up into the bargain.

I ring him to tell him he's been voted a top chutzperian in the Guardian's (admittedly unofficial) survey. For once, he's speechless. But I think he's pleased. Why does he think that we think he's got chutzpah? "Well, I guess I'm rather reluctant to show deference where many people think it is due, especially if there's an issue of injustice involved."

Does he have any chutzpah role models? "Oh yes. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Sylvia Pankhurst. They didn't play politics by orthodox rules. They were fearless in confronting the forces of oppression. I've tried to adapt their methods of non-violent direct action to the contemporary campaign for human rights."

activist chutzpah?