Labour has chosen the guitarist Tom Gray over the comedian Eddie Izzard as its candidate for Brighton Pavilion at the next general election.
The 61-year-old comedian had hoped to contest the seat which has been held since 2010 by the only Green MP, Caroline Lucas, who is standing down at the next election.
Mr Gray, a musician and activist, won the Mercury Prize with the band Gomez in 1998.
In a post on Twitter, Mr Gray said that he was “delighted and humbled to be selected”.
He also thanked Izzard and the other potential candidates for showing “such solidarity and integrity on the trail”.
The contest to be selected for the Brighton seat was Eddie Izzard’s latest attempt to enter Westminster politics after an unsuccessful attempt last year to become Labour’s candidate for Sheffield Central.
The stand up comic, who has long campaigned for Labour, had previously said that if elected as an MP, that would be treated as the main job, with comedy only to be used for charity.
Pleased to see a Brighton resident selected.
Brighton-adjacent, perhaps, he’s not a resident of Brighton Pavilion constituency. That’s not necessarily a problem though.
It will be interesting to see whether any of them knock on our doors. Tom is I think a more mature selection for Labour and the battle between Labour and the Greens in this area will be a good one.
There is no legal requirement for an MP to live in their constituency and it’s unfair to expect it.
At least he lives in the city.
I agree that there is no legal requirement to live in the constituency, but where are you going to draw the line about how far away it is “okay” to live from the constituency that you hope to represent? 1 mile? 5 miles? 20 miles?
Why is it unfair to expect a representative of a constituency to actually live there?
I think you’re living in the 17th century. The idea you should live, or even more extreme, have been raised, in a constituency is no longer possible unless we abolish the Party Political System.
Saying that I would welcome an apolitical candidate and even more for City Council members
I didn’t say that it wasn’t possible, but I am amused at the contortions of commenters who agree that a person doesn’t need to live in the constituency to represent them if it’s someone they agree with, rather than Eddie Izzard or Sian Berry (or, further down this page, two “local” councillors who might be local to Hove / Portslade, but not local to London Road….).
As I said, I think it’s a good selection for Labour. He’s maverick enough to fit the Brighton Pavilion template.
He looks so much more interesting and engaged. Does he know which loo to use though? That what killed Eddies bid for power🤦♂️
That’s a bit of a homophonic comment isn’t it?
Eddie is a heterosexual man. Not remotely homophobic for women to tell him to stop violating their boundaries.
How is it homophobic? Eddie is a straight man with a penchant for dressing as a woman.
How is denying him access to women’s toilets homophobia?
No its not homophobic. What is though is men saying lesbians should date them
I really dont think it was tbh, I think it was because he had no real local connection to Brighton & Hove other than the LGBTQ+ community, but even thats fracturing to an LGB movement without T, and I know a lot in the that community who are in conflict over this now.
Well done Tom on what was a very good local campaign with even a lot of local labour councillors backing Eddie publicly 👏
Did any publicly support Tom? I didn’t see any
Eddie was a non-starter. YOu can’t have politics based on brand power alone. I like to remind people that populism brought in Boris Johnson.
If only our Council Leader hadn’t made the mistake of having a 65 year old cancer survivor ejected from the Council Chamber for daring to question the trans agenda in schools – and before she’d even finished her question -she might have ended up in Tom’s position. But the love-in between Bella and Keir is well and truly in the dust. She was not the safe pair of hands he wanted to tread water for Labour until the next GE.
That decision was made by the Mayor, not the leader of the council.
Oh Barry, if you’re going to attempt discourse, get your facts right.
I certainly supported Tom Gray and am delighted the majority of Labour members did too.
Tom Gray is on the Blairite wing of new new Labour. The last thing this city needs is another Starmeroid drone.
Why were the other two female Labour candidates missed in all the media? There was Birgit Miller and Lucy Helliwell both local councillors. I gather Birgit gave a very good hustings speech, but all ignored by the celebrity obsessed media. Smells like a Blarite plot by Labour HQ.
Since there is a risk the May 2023 local election will be overturned if electoral fraud is proven against the aunt and niece Labour Councillors who turn out to live in Leicester, Labour probably decided it was safer to plump for a candidate with no council connections just in case Labour’s Brighton and Hove City Council should fall before the GE.
Meanwhile we should be hearing about another two by-elections any time now, three if Alison Thomson is not returning to full duties either.
The only risk of the election being over turned is in two wards where the eligibility of two councillors is under investigation and even then it’s only those two councillors who would be removed.
The entire election of 54 councillors isn’t going to be overturned.
They dodged a bullet with Helliwell a totally absent local councilor who is doing nothing for the ward – completely deluded if she thought that would make a good MP.
Tom Gray was the right decision, and gives Labour a fighting chance to take the seat as he is both a good campaigner and local to the are, (something the parachutted Sian Berry is not). Eddie Izzard was simply too devisive, had no real connection to Brighton and it all felt like a bit of a sideshow.
Indeed, I think Izzard was going to be a non-starter. The last quote from a previous article about how Izzard would change his show business plans if he got elected was the nail in the coffin for me. It showed a complete lack of interest. Residents of Brighton have been very clear, they want an MP and Ward Councillors with a genuine and sustaining connection to Brighton.
I was there yesterday and I am disappointed with the homophobic votes.
I wanted Eddie Izzard to win
It’s ridiculous how I’m 2 up near the pavilion but they ward me Kemp Town Queens park.
It’s frustrating but I vote Labour over the tories any day
Not liking the Zionist Stammer though
Having Jewish and Palestinian heritage myself
I find it illegal land grab
Let’s hope Labour get back in no 10
We need a general election
#ToriesOut
Have you heard that the PM announced we’re likely to have a 2024 GE election?