ACTOR AND COMEDIAN’S FIRST BID TO BECOME A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT HITS THE BUFFERS

The Bexhill actor, comedian, author and model train enthusiast had hoped to be selected as the Labour candidate for the Sheffield Central constituency in Yorkshire, but he was beaten to the nomination by a local councillor.

Human rights lawyer Abtisam Mohamed was selected by members of the local constituency after winning 433 votes, while Eddie finished as the runner-up, having accumulated 175 votes.

Mohamed called her selection the “honour of my life”. She will replace Paul Blomfield who will be standing down at the next General Election. At the last election, he held a majority of 27,273 in the Labour stronghold.

Eddie, 60, congratulated the winner on Twitter, writing: “She will make a fine MP and I look forward to campaigning with her in the months and years to come.”

The political activist’s campaign was mired in controversy due to several negative comments aired by some rivals.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Eddie said there had been a “torrent of abuse” since the candidacy was announced. That included a gender critical feminist taking a photo of Eddie using the women’s toilet at a campaign event, tweeting a caption which said: “Coming out of the ladies loo.”

To add to the furore, Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, was criticised in October last year when he said: “I would not follow him into the toilets if he became an MP.”

In addition, Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for

Canterbury in Kent, added fuel to the fire by saying she would rather be arrested then refer to Eddie as a woman.

In response, Eddie tweeted: “She has got to join the 21st century. She has got to catch up with the rest of us. The vast majority of the world is now moving forwards.”

Eddie, 60, adopted the “she” and “her” pronouns two years ago yet made it clear at the time that the terms “he and him” did not cause any undue offence.

Eddie was the only candidate on the shortlist who was not a resident of Sheffield.

The big question now is where does Eddie go from here with regard to political aspirations?

With Eddie having significant links to Bexhill, one Labour supporter told Bexhill News: “I think Eddie would be a major success and a great asset to the town and to the party.

“Everyone I speak to loves Eddie, so why not stand to become Bexhill’s MP? But I guess we will have to wait and see what develops.”

As yet, the Labour candidate has not been selected to contest the constituency although sitting Conservative MP Huw Merriman does enjoy a significant majority in a town which is traditionally seen as Tory supporting. Whether Eddie decides to enter the race remains to be seen but at present it seems no firm decision has been made.

At the 2019 General Election Mr Merriman accumulated 37,590 votes while Labour councillor for Bexhill Central, Christine Baylis, gained 11,531 votes.