Suzy Eddie Izzard confirms bid to become Labour MP in Brighton Pavilion
“Whilst the Tories stoke fear and encourage culture wars, Brighton has shown the country another way"
Comedian and activist Suzy Eddie Izzard has revealed she will be standing in Brighton Pavilion in the 2024 general election in a bid to become a Labour MP.
However, it will be a tough battle to take the seat from its current Green Party stronghold. She will have to overturn the Green Party’s 19,940 majority.
Caroline Lucas – who is stepping down – has been the seat’s MP since 2010, with former co-leader Sian Berry set to run in her place.
Izzard, who is gender fluid and goes by she/her pronouns, shared the bid in a promotional video on Friday (4 August).
“I’m just the latest in over 200 Izaards in East Sussex. I grew up in this county and I’m proud of my roots”
“Brighton is a city at the forefront of change and I want to continue to help it to make that change,” she begins.
Izzard outlines some of the work she’s done so far, including running marathons, campaigning in dozens of different constituencies and raising money for great causes.
She continues: “I’m just the latest in over 200 Izaards in East Sussex. I grew up in this county and I’m proud of my roots.
“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, imaginative, energetic and full of entreprenunirla spirit. But for 13 years, the Tories have tried to drag us down,” Izzard adds.
Later on in the clip, Izzard also hits out at the Green council. This includes over highly-publicised issues with rubbish collection and more.
“It will take practical action – not protest – to fix what’s broken. To win this seat, Labour needs a candidate that can inspire many thousands.
“Reaching out and lifting people up is at the heart of my politics,” she went on. Her website lists her priorities as “Education, the Climate Crisis, Housing, Healthcare, Crime and Jobs”.
“It will take practical action – not protest – to fix what’s broken”
Earlier this year, the 61-year-old said she would be using the name Suzy in addition to Eddie moving forward.
She said: “There’s another name I’m going to add in as well, which is Suzy, which I wanted to be since I was 10.
“So I’m going to be Suzy Eddie Izzard, that’s how I’m going to roll, so people can choose what they want. They can’t make a mistake, they can’t go wrong.”
In 2020, she publicly announced she would be using the pronouns she and her.