Eddie Izzard running for Labour MP in Brighton

[IamSarah]

Confirmed this morning.

www.theargus.co.uk/news/23699795.eddie-izzard-run-labour-mp-candidate-brighton/

This is my local constituency so I have Tweeted Eddie asking if women in Brighton & Hove can rely on Eddie's support in our bid to secure the option of single sex rape crisis therapy.

Let's see what the response is.

Obviously I am relieved that he didn’t get it.

But I am not sure that he is so unusual in trying to parachute himself into a seat where he has little or no local connection, or grasp of real life issues.

The seat where I live has been a one-party hold since time began. It became vacant a few years back and the Party brought in their favoured candidate - a young woman whose main qualifications seemed to be an Oxbridge degree and having worked in the Civil Service. She had no local ties and no track record in local politics. Her claim to understanding public issues was that her parents had been doctors. There was no rival candidate. She was appointed to the seat at a small weekday lunchtime meeting of Party members, who were almost entirely men. I know this because one of them invited more attendees on Facebook and they later put a paper with the signatories online.

Signed, sealed and duly appointed to an influential job, effectively a ‘job for life’ given the size of the Party majority.

She seems pleasant and competent enough, but it’s not how I want my MP to be chosen.

That's appalling , opaque and undemocratic @BadSkiingMum . I think all parties do it , if they can get away with it. Indeed 'safe seats' are really just Rotten Boroughs.

Ps Eddie / Suzy is like one of those multimillionaire Premiership footballers. They kiss the shirt after scoring and run to the fans ecstatically.

Next week they're off to AC Milan. ' Even as a foetus I knew I was a Milan supporter. As a child I loved spag bol ...'

Was there an account of the hustings published or live tweeted anywhere?

There are snippets of what was said at the hustings e.g. the part about how he would promote investment in Brighton.

I will say again, I am relieved that he didn't get it, but does anyone else feel a very reluctant sense of admiration for his sheer Teflon-coated persistence? He wants this and will just keep going until he gets it, regardless of whether he is inexperienced, lacks local connections, needs to move house to live in the constituency, the seat is by no means guaranteed or he is about to go and work on the other side of the word. He just shrugs it all off and keeps going.

Perhaps there is something for women to take note of there?

There is a particular role that I aspire to hold and a little while ago I decided that I would just keep on applying until I got it. I have decided not to let myself get discouraged by rejections and just treat it as a numbers game, as I will learn something from each application and one day be successful.

He'd do what many do, and get a cheap place in the consituency as his 'main home' then expense a nice little flat in London where he will actually live.

Being a very wealthy single bloke helps a lot. Even changing hours at work is difficult with children.

He isnt learning anything, though. He ran twice unsuccessfully for labours NEC, and twice unsuccessfully to be a parliamentary candidate. He didnt seem to understand why he lost sheffield, and was bound to lose brighton for the exact same reasons. He was dreadful speaking about scottish independence and brexit.

Theres something about politics that obviously appeals to him, but he doesn't seem to be politically astute. Theres a difference between not taking rejection, and ignoring reality.

Good luck with your aspirations. Be persistent, but not in an izzard way.

Yes, he needs a political advisor doesn't he? Someone a bit like Eli Gould on 'The Good Wife'.

There is something intriguing about observing an individual who is completely 'free' to plan their life - not restricted by money, marriage or parenthood. What will they do with their allotted human span?

I suspect he might get to the ballot box in the end. He came second this time, so he will be more of a contender the next time.

There's a difference between not taking rejection, and ignoring reality.

Well, on the second point he has previous - or rather, current

I suspect he might get to the ballot box in the end. He came second this time, so he will be more of a contender the next time.

He came second in Brighton Pavilion, the constituency where a person of his, er, identity would be more likely to succeed than any other.

I really hope that Keir steps in and stops this before it goes any further. They're just giving votes to the Tories with this nonsense.

Even the younger generation won't like this as they tend to be against cronyism.

Ouch! Great (and harsh) article here.

www.spiked-online.com/2023/12/18/face-it-eddie-no-one-wants-you-as-their-mp/

🔥🔥🔥🔥

I suspect that what he failed to take into consideration was that the people he actually needed to win over were the members of the Labour Party in Brighton Pavilion constituency, not fan-base people on Twitter.

But I suspect he will rally soon enough.

Woah! It's too quotable to quote 😆

but "like Veruca Salt in a red rosette" 🤣🤣🤣

It was tough finding a bit that wouldn't get me deleted!

Brightonians, ask not what your MP can do for you, but what you can do for your MP’s fat ego.

Bojo is also a misogynist grifter. It’s misogynistic grifters all the way down….

Its a concern that with rubbish answers he still came in second.

Such a bizarre suggestion for two major cities, coming from a has-been 90s standup. It’s like Rob Newman offering to help Beyoncé with her career.

Oh for the good old days when if someone had a burning ambition to represent their local area politically they did it the hard way, they stood and served as school governors in local schools, they stood and served as local councillors, they were active in promoting local issues and dealing with local peoples worries and problems. Then when they were known in the area they would try to get adopted as a prospective MP. All different now though, and actually I feel a bit sorry for EdSuze, he has missed the Russell Group Degree/ Work for an MP/ Become a political advisor/ get shoehorned into a constituency route by about 40 years, and clearly hasn’t got the patience to do it the traditional way. Maybe he should find another hobby.

I used to be a constituent of Chris Smith who was the first openly gay MP, he didn’t make a big thing about being the first openly gay MP, but he did make a big thing about being a damn good constituency MP. A little lesson there I think.

Another brilliant article in the Critic from Jean Hatchet.

Includes a quote from me about Izzard refusing to engage with women in Brighton about the lack of single sex support groups.

thecritic.co.uk/give-up-already-eddie/

Excellent article by Jean there, thanks @IamSarah

I also emailed Izzard about single sex services in Brighton. Crickets...

Though I'm disappointed that Tom Gray also did not respond. I'm hoping he is braver now he's been selected. I will certainly continue asking, as an election draws near.

This in the Critic article sums it up for me:

The woke elites underestimate at their peril how horrified people are by their Orwellian insistence that this man is a woman. Literally a woman. So obviously a woman that any real woman who dares to say he isn’t a woman will be branded a TERF (newspeak for ‘witch’) and cancelled into oblivion.

Correction - in the Spiked article

Men who claim to be women are parading around in women’s changing rooms with their knobs out – that doesn’t sound like equality to me, it sounds like flashing. What we used to call indecent exposure we now call ‘trans rights’. Would Izzard’s trumpeted commitment to dignity include defending the dignity of women who don’t want to see a shrivelled dick at the gym?

Abso freaking lutely 👏👏

The reasoning for the lack of a win is not due to people being transphobic …

but because they have an old-fashioned commitment to decency and truth. Men up and down the country know you never set foot in the women’s loo. In pubs across the land there will be legions of men who are falling-down drunk but who still understand the women’s bathroom is off-limits.

A decency and truth that is very much missing in certain people I would feel…

Must be a mode thing.

Decent mode. Trust mode.

Not ‘entitled and I demand you take part in my fantasy mode’.