Comedian Eddie Izzard is to run to be Labour’s candidate in Brighton Pavilion at the next election.

Eddie is hoping to become the party’s first MP in the constituency for 13 years and oust the Greens from their only seat in Parliament.

Labour currently holds the seats of Hove and Brighton Kemptown in Westminster but lost Brighton Pavilion to Caroline Lucas in 2010.

In an exclusive interview with The Argus, Eddie Izzard said she would bring passion and energy into representing Brighton on a national and international stage.

Eddie said: “I really want to be in politics. My heritage is down here and I will bring all the energy from everything I’ve done before.

“I want to promote the successes of Brighton so people in this country and around the world can know more and more about it.”

The Argus: Eddie Izzard touring North Laine in Brighton as she announces her bid to become the Labour MP for Brighton PavilionEddie Izzard touring North Laine in Brighton as she announces her bid to become the Labour MP for Brighton Pavilion (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Eddie praised Caroline Lucas, who is standing down at the next election, but said it is important to elect a Labour MP in Brighton Pavilion so the city can have a voice in government.

“Caroline Lucas has done a wonderful job. She has been a great MP and has protested strongly for 13 years and I salute the hard work that she has put in," said Eddie.

“However, one MP can’t make a government. The Green Party is the party of protest, the Conservative Party is the party of chaos and Labour is the party of governance.

“We have a very good chance of being in government at the next election and if you want green policies in and if you want good governance, then vote me in.

“I am a hard worker, I have a vision of the future that is everyone in the world has the right to a fair chance in life and I want to fight for Brighton and for a world where everyone has an equal chance.

“If Brighton wants that, vote for me and I will put all this energy in - I’m not coming into politics to sit on my hands.

“My mum died when I was six years old and I’ve been a fighter since then.

“If you want that energy, I’m right here and ready to go.”

Among the issues Eddie hopes to “fight like crazy” on in Westminster are those facing renters in the city as well as homelessness and the state of the health service.

“My mother was a nurse, so the NHS is very close to my heart. It’s something that the Labour Party invented - if we hadn’t got in with a landslide in 1945 with Atlee, then it probably wouldn’t have come in until Tony Blair’s government in 1997," said Eddie.

“It is something we need to concentrate on so that people can get appointments for doctors and NHS dentists, which are very difficult to find in the Brighton area.”

The Argus: Eddie Izzard could become Labour's first transgender MPEddie Izzard could become Labour's first transgender MP (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Eddie would like to see GB Energy, the publicly owned clean energy company Labour has committed to establishing, have its headquarters in Brighton.

“Why not bring it to Brighton - a very positive, very green and progressive city? I think that would be a perfect thing."

If Eddie Izzard is successful and chosen to represent Brighton Pavilion by voters at the next election, she would be Labour’s first transgender MP.

Eddie said: “That would be very positive but just like Obama being an African-American man becoming president, it wasn’t the thing that defined his presidency."

The comedian said she would stop performing and commit full-time to Westminster if elected, looking towards the late Glenda Jackson, who had a career in acting before serving as an MP for 23 years, as an example to follow.

She said a range of skills from her time on stage will be an asset in the corridors of the House of Commons, in particular communication.

Eddie said: “Comedy is kind of useful in politics because you can say the things that you believe and are positive about and then say ‘let me tell you about the other team’.

“People need a bit of that because it does get quite dry in the world of politics.”

The Argus: Eddie Izzard outside of the Royal PavilionEddie Izzard outside of the Royal Pavilion (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Born in Aden in what is now Yemen, Eddie Izzard attended St Bede’s Prep School in Eastbourne and Eastbourne College growing up. She has lived in Bexhill since the age of seven.

The award-winning actor, activist and fundraiser joined the Labour Party in 1995 and took part in campaigning in Brighton and Hove during the local election in May.

Eddie attempted to be Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Sheffield Central last year but came second in a vote of members.

Several other Labour members are expected to throw their hat into the Brighton Pavilion ring, with some current and former councillors rumoured to be considering a bid to be the party’s candidate.

No timetable has been announced for Labour’s selection process but it is thought it will be in the autumn.

Brighton Pavilion elected the UK’s first Green MP, Caroline Lucas, in 2010, taking the seat from Labour. Ms Lucas will step down at the next general election after serving almost 25 years as an MEP and an MP.

Former Green Party co-leader Sian Berry has been selected as the party’s next candidate for Brighton Pavilion, with activists already beginning the campaign to ensure she is elected and holds the party’s only seat in Westminster.

In March, Eddie Izzard announced she would begin using the name Suzy in addition to Eddie, but would continue to use her stage name since it is more widely recognised.