The comedian and social activist, Eddie Izzard, has this morning detailed plans to seek the Labour Party nomination in the constituency of Brighton Pavillion.
In a professional looking video published on his campaign website, Eddie said: “I am standing to become the next Labour MP for Brighton Pavillion, to support this brilliant city and its diverse and vibrant community”.
In the video, which pictures Izzard talking to camera at a number of locations across Brighton, she describes the city as: “Open minded, and welcoming to all, with a thriving arts and cultural scene. Imaginative, energetic, and full of entrepreneurial spirit”.
The Brighton Pavilion constituency contains the heart of the city of Brighton. It spreads upwards from a narrow section on the coast near Brighton’s Pier to include the areas of Hollingdean, Preston, and Withdean.
It is an overwhelmingly middle class constituency in which some seven tenths of the electorate is classified as being in the socio-economic groups of A, B, and C1 and where the average house price exceeds half a million pounds. Containing the campuses of Brighton University, and Sussex University, the seat has one of the highest student votes in the country.
Even if she is selected as the Labour candidate for Brighton Pavillion, Izzard will face a significant battle to reach the House of Commons. In 2019, Caroline Lucas retained the seat for the Green Party with a massive majority of 19,940 over Labour. Lucas is standing down at the next election, but the Green Party have recently selected their former leader, Sian Berry, as their candidate for the constituency.
Recognising this challenge, Izzard claimed: “To win this seat, Labour need a candidate who can inspire thousands”.
Izzard, who is well known for running multiple marathons, lives close to Brighton along the East Sussex coast in Bexhill. She previously attended St Bede’s Prep School in nearby Eastbourne, as well as Eastbourne College.
This latest plan by Izzard follows a previous attempt to secure the Labour nomination in the Sheffield Central constituency in December last year.
In that selection contest, Izzard came second, losing out by 433 votes to 175 to local councilor Abtisam Mohammed. During that particular selection battle Mohammed, attracted the support of Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP. In the context of the impending Brighton Pavillion selection contest, Lloyd-Russell Moyle is the Labour MP for the neighbouring seat of Brighton Kemptown.
In March this year, Izzard announced she would begin using the name Suzy. However, she said that she would also keep using the stage name, Eddie Izzard, as it is more widely recognised.
If Izzard is successful, both in securing the Labour nomination in the constituency, and then in gaining the seat off the Greens, she would be Labour’s first transgender MP. In March 2022, Jamie Wallis, the Conservative MP for Bridgend, became the first openly transgender MP in the House of Commons.
