Eddie Izzard fails in bid to become Labour’s candidate for Brighton Pavilion | Ents & Arts News

Eddie Izzard has failed in her latest bid to represent the Labour Party as an MP at the next general election.

The 61-year-old comedian and activist announced in August she would run to be Labour‘s candidate in Brighton Pavilion.

However, Izzard, who also goes by the name of Suzy, was pipped to the candidacy by musician and activist Tom Gray, famous for being part of the band Gomez.

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Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, after being selected by the local branch of Labour, Mercury Prize winner Gray thanked Izzard and other candidates for showing such “solidarity and integrity” during the campaign.

Izzard had promised to fight for a “passion-driven creative education system”, increase the supply of affordable homes, secure more money for the NHS and champion mental health if she was selected.

It marks the second time the comedian failed to be selected, missing out last year when she campaigned to be the Labour candidate for Sheffield Central.

Labour is hoping to win Brighton Pavilion for the first time since 2005 after Green MP Caroline Lucas announced she would be standing down.

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Ms Lucas, who was the first and so far only Green MP to enter the House of Commons, won the constituency with a majority of nearly 20,000 in 2019.

Sian Berry, who came third in the 2021 London mayoral election, has been selected as Ms Lucas’s successor in the seat.

Last year, Izzard also lost out in the selection contest to be the candidate in the safe Labour seat of Sheffield Central, coming second to a local councillor.