Suzy Izzard suggests being trans affected her chance of becoming an MP

Actor and comedian Suzy Izzard – also known as Eddie Izzard – has suggested that being a trans woman negatively affected her chances of becoming a Labour MP.

Last year, the Doctor Jekyll star put her name forward to be the Labour candidate for Brighton Pavilion at the upcoming general election, after current MP – the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas – announced that she would not be standing again.

In December, Izzard learnt that she had not been selected. Instead, Mercury-Prize-winning musician Tom Gray will contest the seat for Labour.

It’s the second time Izzard has failed in her bid to be selected as a prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour. In 2022, she bid to be the candidate for Sheffield Central, but was not selected in the members’ ballot.

During a recent interview with The Times, Izzard suggested that being transgender may have wrecked her chances of becoming an MP, even if she had been selected to stand.

Being trans became the focus, rather than “all the positive things” she’s done in her career, she said.

“If you’re transphobic, getting a trans MP is not what you want. Then, if you get one, you’re probably going to get two.”

Izzard went on to say that while the average person may think it’s great that she’s vying to be their MP, “politicos” – people staunchly involved in politics – would be wary of selecting someone “different” from themselves.

“Politicos have a set of criteria that they vote on and they want you to replicate them,” she said.

“I have all this energy, I can analyse things, I can analyse systems, which is needed in politics, and I can communicate. I think a lot of people would vote for that.

“But when you get to the selection process it’s: ‘Yes, like the energy, but do you think exactly like I do?’ And if you’re even slightly different, well…”

She went on to suggest that even her supporters can be put off of backing her, because of the wave of anti-trans backlash they have to endure.

“It’s not me in particular that’s under attack, but anyone who supports me does get hit by a wall of this stuff. If you’re going to stand up and say, ‘I support this person’, you need to goad yourself to do that.”

Despite the setbacks, Izzard confirmed that she still has her heart set on becoming a Labour MP in the future.

The stand-up started speaking about being trans in 1985, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she decided to adopt she/her pronouns full time. She announced last year that she would begin using the name Suzy in addition to Eddie.