By Greg Heffer, Political Correspondent For Mailonline
12:03 04 Aug 2023, updated 12:46 04 Aug 2023
- The 61-year-old comic is making a fresh effort to enter Westminster politics
Eddie Izzard has announced she is making her latest attempt to become an MP and is bidding to be Labour’s general election candidate for the Brighton Pavilion seat.
The 61-year-old comic’s newest effort to enter Westminster politics comes after she last year failed to be chosen as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central.
In a social media video announcing her candidacy, Izzard hailed Brighton as an ‘open-minded’ city that is ‘welcoming to all’ and pointed to her ‘roots’ in Sussex.
She also lashed out at the Tories and the Green Party, who lost control of Brighton and Hove City Council earlier this year as Labour retook power in the city.
The current Brighton Pavilion MP is long-serving Green politician Caroline Lucas, who is standing down at the next general election.
Eddie Izzard has announced she is making her latest attempt to become an MP and is bidding to be Labour’s general election candidate for the Brighton Pavilion seat In a social media video announcing her candidacy, the 61-year-old comic hailed Brighton as an ‘open-minded’ city that is ‘welcoming to all’ and pointed to her ‘roots’ in Sussex Izzard also lashed out at the Tories and the Green Party, who lost control of Brighton and Hove City Council earlier this year as Labour retook power in the city The current Brighton Pavilion MP is long-serving Green politician Caroline Lucas, who is standing down at the next general election
Izzard has previously spoken about her gender-fluid identity and requests to be referred to with she/her pronouns.
Her previous bid to become a Labour candidate, in Sheffield Central, was marked by a furious ‘transphobic’ row.
Rosie Duffield, Labour MP for Canterbury, used a fringe event at the party’s conference in Liverpool last year to threaten to quit the party if Izzard was allowed onto an all-women shortlist.
She also said: ‘Eddie Izzard is not a woman.’
Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, was criticised after declaring he would not ‘be following him into the toilets’ if Izzard became an MP.
He also questioned whether female representation in Parliament would ‘increase or decrease’ with Izzard’s election.
In response to the comments, Izzard said that ‘some people haven’t joined the 21st century’ and hit out at ‘bullying’ and ‘transphobic attitudes’.
Izzard is a former member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee and has previously flirted with a bid to become London mayor.
She spent part of her childhood in Bexhill-on-Sea, around 30 miles from Brighton on the South Coast, and has hailed how she is ‘just the latest in over 200 years of Izzards in East Sussex’.
‘Whilst the Tories stoke fear and encourage culture wars, Brighton has shown the country another way; Open-minded and welcoming to all, with a thriving arts, creative and cultural scene,’ Izzard said in the video declaring her candidacy.
‘Imaginative, energetic and full of entrepreneurial spirit.
‘But for 13 years the Tories have tried to drag us down. Police numbers, cut. Fewer dentists, doctors and nurses.
‘A rail network grinding to a halt, and sewage dumping into the sea. Hiking the cost of everything and holding Brighton back.
‘And we all saw what happened under the Green council — house building stalled whilst rubbish piled high in the streets.
‘It will take practical action – not protest – to fix what’s broken, and to win this seat, Labour needs a candidate that can inspire many thousands to become our friends and allies in the fight for a fairer-greener-cleaner planet.
‘Reaching out and lifting people up, is at the heart of my politics. I believe in making connections – not breaking connections.
‘So please join me — get in touch, get involved and let’s make Brighton Pavillion Labour again.’
Izzard’s newest effort to enter Westminster politics comes after she last year failed to be chosen as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central
Labour’s selection process in Brighton Pavilion is not expected to be held until the autumn.
The party’s chances of winning back the seat they last held in 2010 – prior to Ms Lucas winning the constituency for the first time at that year’s general election – will have been buoyed by their performance in recent local elections.
Labour won an overall majority on Brighton and Hove City Council in May to replace the Green administration.
Sian Berry, former Green co-leader, will be the party’s candidate to succeed Ms Lucas in Brighton Pavilion at the next general election.
Labour currently hold the neighbouring constituencies of Brighton Kemptown and Hove.
Izzard lost out to local councillor Abtisam Mohamed in the contest to be Labour’s candidate in Sheffield Central.