Eddie Izzard touts to be Mayor of London

Eddie Izzard: Now committed to a career in politics. Picture: Getty

The 51-year-old is seeking the Labour nomination for mayor of London in 2019 and if he does not get the endorsement he hopes to stand as an MP.

He said: “People say, ‘Well, you’re a bit woolly’ and ‘You’re really not informed’; ‘You’re not this’ and ‘You’re not that’.

“But I realise those attacks are going to happen and you have to push through to get to a better place.”

Izzard, who previously campaigned for Ken Livingstone to be mayor, criticised current London mayor Boris Johnson, saying: “Boris is really all about Boris.”

The funnyman added: “You know, the whole Boris bike thing is crazy. It was Ken’s idea, he saw cycles for hire in France and wanted to set it up, but no-one seems to mention that. It’s ‘Ken cycles’ not ‘Boris bikes’.”

Izzard, who completed 43 marathons in 51 days to raise money for Sport Relief in 2009, said : “I hated the Eighties and I hated the politics and I really didn’t like her [Baroness Thatcher].

“I’m all for get-up-and-go and she did have energy, but throwing people on the scrapheap of life is what she did, and she seemed to revel in it as well.”

Next year, Izzard will go back to South Africa to complete his latest running challenge, a tribute to Mandela, having had to pull out last year because of health complications.