Eddie Izzard aims to stand for Labour in Sheffield Central

Comedian Eddie Izzard says she hopes to stand as a Labour candidate in Sheffield at the next general election.

No selection process has yet formally started, but the star told the BBC she hopes to contest the Sheffield Central seat.

Labour MP Paul Blomfield, who has represented the seat since 2010, announced in February he would stand down at the next election.

Izzard said she "wished to throw my hat in the ring".

"It's an amazing seat to be able to stand for, if the people of Sheffield Central wish to have me there I will be there," she told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"I would love to be here as my whole creative career started from here, all the way to Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden and around 45 countries in the world."

The stand-up, writer and actor studied accountancy and financial management with mathematics at the University of Sheffield in the 1980s.

Izzard later dropped out of the course to pursue her interests in comedy and was given an honorary doctorate by the university in 2006.

The 60-year-old is backing Sheffield's bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 and attended a protest about cuts to bus services during a visit to the city on Thursday.

She added: "It's going to be a big competition to get the Sheffield Central seat.

"Paul has done sterling work, you hear on the doorstep how much he is admired for the hard work he has done."

Paul Blomfield is leaving a strong majority of over 27,000 in Sheffield Central, but it's a difficult seat to manage.

It has a transient student population and some of the most deprived wards, along with some of the most prosperous.

The Greens have a good foothold, holding several council wards, and there's a boundary review which could see the Labour wards bumped into a neighbouring constituency.

There's no doubt celebrities attract attention and are vote winners - as Eddie Izzard discovered when a police van pulled over so officers could take a selfie with her.

But with widespread industrial action, the Ukraine war, a cost of living and energy crisis, any candidate will need political strategy as well as stardust.

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