Tory MP offers no apology for insult about Sheffield Labour candidate Eddie Izzard

Eddie Izzard, 60, who became famous as a cross-dressing comedian and now identifies as a gender-fluid trans woman, is among several possible candidates to replace former Sheffield Central Labour MP Paul Blomfield’s seat including Paul Mason, Rizwana Lala, Mike Buckley and city coucillors Jayne Dunn and Abtisam Mohamed.

But Eddie Izzard has already had to respond to trans-related comments made during her campaign, not least from Conservative MP Lee Anderson who was reported by Ashfield councillor David Hennigan for attacking her in a TV interview.

Mr Hennigan complained that Mr Anderson – Member of Parliament for Ashfield, Nottinghamshire – had said he “would not follow [her] into the toilets”.

The Met Police later announced they will not be investigating the MP saying “no offences have been identified” after receiving the complaint on October 27 about alleged comments made during a television interview given on College Green, Westminster, on Wednesday, October 26.

A Met Police spokesman said: “The complaint has been assessed and no offences have been identified. As a result no further action will be taken.”

However, Mr Anderson has responded with further potentially controversial remarks.

Commenting on the row in an interview with Darren Grimes on GB News on Saturday, October 29, Mr Anderson said: “I’m not here to upset any one group of people but whenever I am in Parliament I will keep saying what my constituents are actually thinking.

“I think this policing by consent has gone a little bit too far. I always go back to the days when I was a teenager when there was a spot of bother and the police were much more firm. Fast forward 30 odd years and look at their policing on the streets of London and the rest of the country, I think you know we've got it all wrong.

“The police seem to be far too busy in some areas investigating silly complaints, or the one made against me.

“I love my job. I love representing the people of Ashfield, and I'm not [here] to score brownie points. I'm not there to have a career in politics. I'm there for the people of Ashfield. I'm their voice. I've never lived more than five miles from where I was born. I know what working class people are thinking. I shoot from the hip, and I say the things that I believe my constituents feel.”

Following Mr Anderson’s original comment Eddie Izzard said: “Some people aren’t up to speed, some people haven’t joined the 21st century and, well, they’ve got to get on the bus now because I’ve been out for so long now that I don’t know why they didn’t bring this up before.

“It’s different now that I’m going for a parliamentary seat, but I don’t think bullying is a great thing to be happening and so I’m just going to carry on.”

Mr Blomfield has been Labour’s MP for Sheffield Central since 2010 and won the constituency in 2019 with a 27,000 majority.