Eddie Izzard's life and favourite places in Sussex

The comedian and activist hopes to become the party's first MP in Brighton Pavilion for 13 years and oust the Greens from their only seat in Parliament.

Eddie, who grew up in Sussex and lives in Bexhill, said there have been Izzards in the county for more than 200 years and said she is "proud of my roots".

She studied St Bede's Prep School in Eastbourne and Eastbourne College.

As a child Eddie loved a model railway set, made with brother Mark to occupy their time while their mother was ill. It is now on show in Bexhill Museum.

Eddie said that of the places across Sussex, the South Downs have a special place in her heart.

Eddie said: “I love the Downs - I grew up and played sports on them. I also ran five marathons across them. You go up there and the whole of England opens up in front of you.

“I love it because it is a national park and it doesn’t really change. The way it was when I was a child is the same as it is now and how it was hundreds and hundreds of years ago."

Eddie Izzard (right) as a child with her brother on the South Downs (Image: Eddie Izzard)

She remembers in particular the times she had walked there with her brother in the 1970s.

She said: “We walked half the way until Dad’s feet gave out - he’d bought brand new shoes and decided to walk along the South Downs, which is not the cleverest thing to do.

“We were camping at Ditchling Beacon when there was a thunderstorm and we didn’t have a flysheet."

Eddie Izzard in North Laine, Brighton (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Eddie also loves Sussex’s “vertiginous” cliffs and the “good sense of humour” of residents.

Eddie praised Brighton, the city she hopes to represent in Parliament, for its “vibrancy”.

She highlighted the Theatre Royal, where she will be performing in December, for a special mention.

“The Theatre Royal was one of the first big places I played and it was such an honour to play there,” she said.

Eddie also praised North Laine as being “full of imagination and alternative ways of looking at things” adding: “How they are is right in my zeitgeist."

Eddie Izzard will likely be among several Labour activists hoping to contest Brighton Pavilion at the next general election, expected to take place some time next year.

The Green Party has selected former party leader Sian Berry to fight to keep their only seat in Parliament following current MP Caroline Lucas’s decision to stand down when voters next go to the polls.