IT’S ALWAYS encouraging for any party activist when a well-known and popular celebrity makes it clear he or she is a member or supporter. I was certainly pleasantly surprised when the Doctor* himself introduced the PM at a Labour fundraiser earlier this year.

This time it was Eddie Izzard, one of my all-time favourite stand-ups who I’ve seen live on at least three occasions. Make that four, because he gave the after-dinner speech at last night’s conference gala dinner in Manchester.

He started off by playing with the remote control which operated the height of the lectern. When it got to its lowest possible point – about 18 inches high – some wag in the audience shouted: “That’s for Hazel Blears!”

Then he started talking about his conference experience, describing it as “like the Edinburgh fringe, except with guns”.

Gordon also produced some new jokes, including one about Nick Clegg (he referred to him only as “the leader of the Liberal Party”) and the number 30. Has GB been reading this blog, I wonder?

 

* The central character is called “the Doctor”. “Doctor Who” is the name of the show, not the character. It’s true – ask David Tennant.