Eddie Izzard plans to win Labour seat at next general election: ‘I am a relentless bastard’

Comedian said it is important for ‘moderate people’ to enter politics

Eddie Izzard has said she is planning to win a seat for Labour in the next general election.

The comedian has previously been vocal about her intentions to enter politics. In January, Izzard revealed that she had wanted to stand in the 2019 election “but a seat wasn’t available”.

Asked by The Guardian whether she was determined and serious about the endeavour, Izzard replied: “I’m not mucking about with this. I’m going in. If something goes wrong, if I stand in a byelection and I don’t get in, I’ll still go on.” 

The 59-year-old added: “It doesn’t really matter because I am a relentless bastard.”

Speaking about her reasons for entering politics, she said that it was important for “moderate people” to go into politics otherwise “you leave it to egotistical extremists who are happy to lie”.

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“Moderates have to go in. I’m a radical and a moderate,” she said. “I do radical things, but my politics are moderate.

“I perform in French, German and Spanish as well as English when I’m a standup, so that’s slightly radical. And I’m radical because I came out as transgender. I’ve run about 130 marathons for charity. That’s slightly radical.”

The actor’s interest in politics is well documented, with Izzard having said at various times that she would like to run for Mayor of London.

Elsewhere in the interview, Izzard said that it is “easier” to be a trans woman now that she is older, stating: “Visually, there’s not so much difference between older men and older women, so it does get easier.”

She next stars opposite Judi Dench in the World War II spy thriller Six Minutes to Midnight – on which Izzard also served as a first-time screenwriter.