Eddie Izzard on the AV Campaign

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Which comic struts into mind when you hear the word ‘transvestite’? What about ‘long-distance running Labour activist’? Who has the audacious energy of a teenager on speed? Back in 2009 Eddie Izzard had enough energy, nay sheer determination, to run 43 marathons in 51 days for Sports Relief. Now, in 2011 he is visiting 15 UK cities in just 4 short days to promote AV before Thursday’s referendum.

He begins straight away by stating that the old first-past-the-post system is outdated and impractical. Fifty years ago, 90% of people voted Labour or Tory but that just isn’t the way things are today. ‘Politics is more multi-coloured,’ he argues, ‘our lives are more multi-coloured’. His voice is urgent and severe, a far cry from that of the man seen on stage. What’s more, he makes this Thursday seem like our one chance to seize emancipation from the cruel chains of electoral slavery; “We’ve never been given this chance in the history of democracy in the UK, if we don’t take it on Thursday we may never have it again in our lifetimes!”

Noticing his ability to stir the soul, I ask for his thoughts on a couple of the more emotive NO campaign posters, particularly, the one depicting a sick baby alongside the tear-jerking words, ‘She needs a maternity unit, not an alternative voting system.’ Apparently saying yes to AV will take money from babies and soldiers. Isn’t this just a little manipulative? “It’s not going to cost anything, we don’t need counting machines,” he retorts, contradicting Cameron’s assertion that they would be mandatory. Izzard reels off point after point. “They already do it in Scotland…It’s as easy as 123; the NO campaign cannot see that because they obviously can’t count up to 3.”  Although coming up with a phrase that cribs off a Jackson 5 hit is pretty catchy,  jabbing a humorous finger at his opponents is hardly a valid argument.

If, as he would have us believe, there are so many benefits to this proposed system, why is it that the YES campaign has been so overshadowed by the cross-party and conservative NO campaigns? At this question his voice grows steely and Terminator Izzard wheels round with all guns blazing; “There isn’t a cross-party NO campaign, there’s a Tory NO campaign. It is 99% funded by Tories, not 95%, not 96%: 99%. The other 1% is a dog called Mutt or something.” His contempt for the Tories is undisguised but then again; this man would not be where he is today if he had been born demure and tactful. “Tories are like the dementors from Harry Potter. We all know this, we can’t prove it scientifically, but we all know it’s true.”

I try to bring the interview back to the YES campaign’s reserve over the past few weeks. As the opposition have had their foot in the door for so long, wouldn’t it have been more constructive to have started his own campaign sooner?
“There was the royal wedding; do you remember the royal wedding? You don’t go out and campaign a week before the royal wedding,” he answers, “it’s all about going out close to the elections. At the moment I’m doing my gigs in French in Paris”’ very impressive, “and I had to stop my show for a week because I believe in this, I have energy and I’m passionate.”

He isn’t lying. This man has conviction; that is obvious to see in all of his varied pursuits. The interview ends quickly so that he can start the next one and I get the feeling that although the Alternative Vote isn’t Sports Relief and an intensive political campaign is not 43 marathons, this man has little more ability to relent than a house-elf under orders.