The people of Sheffield Central, and anybody who values the credibility of the Labour Party, can breathe a sigh of relief. A constituency Labour party has come to the sensible decision in the selection for a candidate in Sheffield Central. Eddie Izzard came a poor second, with 175 votes, 258 behind the winning candidate.
This shouldn’t surprise followers of the comedienne’s career. Eddie has a strong track record – of losing at every opportunity. Here’s a summary of Izzard’s losing campaigns:
Better luck next time, Eddie…
Such is the Green Party’s dedication to niche, online, woke issues, they’ve decided to suspend their candidate in Sheffield Central, who got 9% of the vote in 2019, for questioning whether Eddie Izzard should use women’s toilets. Alison Teal has been booted out of the seat after Izzard complained some of her tweets were homophobic. Teal’s crime? Sharing a Critic op-ed by Jean Hatchet that questioned why Izzard had used women’s loos at a Labour Party fundraising event in the city.
Powerful piece by @JeanHatchet "The loss of women’s rights starts with looking the other way for an Eddie Izzard and ends with a society that doesn’t flinch at placing a male sex offender in jail with women." Serious issues we must discuss.@SheffieldGreens https://t.co/zpEaSUhJV3
— Alison Teal 🍃💚🍃 (@alisonclareteal) October 1, 2022
Unsurprisingly, Teal is defending her corner, arguing she’s not transphobic, she’s merely interested in protecting the rights of women and children. She says she’s “shocked” by the suspension. So will the vast majority of Sheffield Central’s electorate…
With just three weeks to go before the Labour selection hustings, Eddie Izzard has revealed how the good people of Sheffield Central can get to know their potential new MP. All they have to do is book the next flight to Manhattan…
Just five days after the hustings on December 4, Izzard is hightailing it to New York for a six-week, 38-show residency in an off-Broadway production of Great Expectations:
Good people of New York! I’m coming to perform Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations Dec. 9 – Jan. 22 at the Greenwich House Theater! Tickets are available now at: https://t.co/fvb2e1I4wn
— Eddie Izzard (@eddieizzard) October 26, 2022
Sheffield constituents hoping to meet Izzard and voice their community’s concerns can do so after the show. Tickets start at just $60 (plus $8.79 in fees)…
Eddie Izzard, the trans comedian who identifies as a Labour candidate, has taken a swing at Rosie Duffield over her comments on “misgendering”. Speaking to PA, the comedian called Rosie “transphobic” and said she should “join the 21st century”. Izzard then added “I don’t think bullying is a great thing to be happening”. One trans woman’s bullying is another woman’s statement of fact…
Izzard is vying for selection in Sheffield Central, where all candidates issued a joint statement condemning “racism and transphobia”. Guido notes they didn’t actually address the issue itself, but chose to associate it with racism and decry it as bigotry.
No doubt they will still claim to have “won the argument”. Activists might want to take more note of the recent NHS guidelines saying that most children identifying as trans are just going through “a phase”. Perhaps the failure to engage in actual debate is why the issue is so toxic…
Lee Anderson has weighed in on Eddie Izzard’s latest struggle – to become a Labour MP. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that Lee isn’t, well, exactly on-board with the idea. He told Mike Graham:
“… I think [Labour] have got 51% of their MPs now, in Parliament, are females. Now, if Eddie Izzard gets elected, I don’t know whether that increases or decreases the percentage. Because I’m not sure what he’s all about, Keir Starmer’s not sure what he’s all about. And you know what, the old traditional working class Labour voters will take a look at Eddie Izzard and think, y’know, is that what’s coming to Parliament? […] I’m going to be honest now, controversial as always, if he does get elected and I’m still here, I shouldn’t be following him into the toilets.”
Honest as ever…
At this point it’s a purely academic question, given Labour already has 50% female representation in the Parliamentary party. Still, not a question Sir Keir enjoys answering…
“We have been the part of equality for women for many, many years and many of the changes in the laws in relation to equality have been because of a Labour government… Now more than 50% are women, there’s a legal opinion that says we can’t use them anymore… I know Rosie Duffield’s position – my position is as I’ve set out. I’m not going to discuss individual cases.”
All he had to say was “no.” Sheffield Central isn’t using an all-women shortlist anyway. Just ask Paul Mason…
