Page 3 Profile: Eddie Izzard, comedian

Eddie Izzard - £31,550: The multi-lingual stand-up comic has fronted Labour broadcasts and been talked of as a London mayoral candidate (Getty Images)

He's on a world tour, no?

He is indeed, and Izzard will be returning to these shores in May for a series of arena gigs. In the meantime, however, he has revealed that he wants to reinvent himself in politics and run for London Mayor in 2020.

Did I read that last part correctly?

"I'm going to chuck in comedy in six years to go into politics," he told The Sun. "I've proved I can be determined and do things in a different way. And you need comedy in politics. There are lots of decisions to be made and people get bored talking about things that are only slightly different." Politics, he said, is "very dry so you need comedy to make it palatable".

Was he having them on?

Believe it or not, this isn't the first time the 51-year-old has talked about turning his back on showbiz in favour of serving the people. In an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show earlier this year, he said he would "put comedy in hibernation if I can do something decent in politics".

He can't seriously think people will vote for him?

"I think I can get elected," he said, though he predicted people would grumble about how he went from "interesting" to "boring". Comedy scriptwriter John O'Farrell's recent bid to become MP for Eastleigh was an absolute disaster, but some might argue that having voted for Boris Johnson, Londoners would be far more open to electing a comedian.

Does he have any political experience?

Well, he did appear in Ocean's Twelve, and with Hollywood egos including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones all on the same set you can bet he's dealt with harsher opprobrium than he'd get in the London Assembly. In addition, he's donated money to the Labour party in the past.

That's not proper experience though, is it?

No, it's not.