Russell Brand endorses Jeremy Corbyn as he backs Labour in General Election

The British comedian famously interview Ed Miliband ahead of the General Election in 2015 
Speaking out: Russell Brand urges fans to vote for Jeremy Corbyn
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Jennifer Ruby31 May 2017
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Russell Brand has endorsed Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister, saying he is “committed to serving the people of Britain.”

The comedian and actor, who backed Ed Miliband in the last General Election, has shared a blog post announcing that he will be backing Labour again.

“A Labour government won’t be perfect, it will be operating within a system that opposes its new, manifest agenda to serve the people it will be elected to govern,” he wrote on Huffington Post.

“Jeremy Corbyn won’t be perfect, he is a human being. We have a chance to elect a politician who is committed to serving the people of Britain. To supporting the NHS, public services and educating the young people to whom the future belongs.”

Russell Brand: in pictures

1/9

Urging people not to vote for Theresa May, Brand said that a vote for the Conservatives would be a vote for discarding the “opportunity for change.”

“Electing the Tories for another five years, to throw the opportunity for change into the distant indeterminate wasteland of 2022 would be an act of collective self-loathing bordering on mass sadomasochism,” he said.

“We must have some faith in humanity, some faith in one another, some hope that we can build a better society together, rather than burrowing downward from the gutter to whatever circle may be propping up hell.”

Referencing Corbyn’s connections to the IRA, the Radio X DJ said that the allegations didn’t “meet up to scrutiny.”

Funny General Election Campaign Pictures 2017

1/36

“Even the more ‘controversial’ stuff in his search history doesn’t hold up to scrutiny – meeting with the IRA; he wasn’t at a barn dance in Londonderry downing Guinness in a balaclava, he was perspicaciously acknowledging the necessity for negotiation in pursuit of a peaceful solution,” he said.

“Which is what happened, years later. You could say that he was ahead of his time. Or a leader.”

Brand, who has previously urged fans not to vote at all, famously interviewed Miliband two years ago ahead of the General Election.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in