Comedian Rufus Hound to run for European Parliament on National Health Action ticket

Rufus Hound has announced he is to run for the European Parliament.

The comedian said he wants to be an MEP 'because the NHS is being privatised and I feel like "Who is stepping forward and telling people about it?" and nobody is'.

He announced the news on Jonathan Ross's ITV chat show, teasing that he had a secret to share.

When the host joked that Rufus was going to come out, the comedy star replied: "If I was gay I would be completely super proud of that! What I am about to come out about is worse. I think I'm going to run as an MEP... I'm as confused by this as you are."

Rufus, 34, later expanded on his plans to enter the political arena in a blog post.

He confirmed: "In May, I will be standing as a prospective Member of the European Parliament, and doing so for The National Health Action Party.

"For anyone who follows me on Twitter, I doubt that my party of choice will come as too much of a surprise. I've been tweeting endlessly over the past few months about the dangers the NHS currently faces, but over Christmas, something changed. My wife - similarly passionate - suggested that we were becoming "those people". Those people who whinge on and on, wringing hands and asking "But why isn't somebody doing something?!" - instead of actually doing something.

"So, we decided that we'd do something. We just didn't know what. Neither of us imagined it would involve one of us becoming a... politician."

 

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.