Brand will not run for London mayor

Russell Brand has ruled himself out of running for mayor of London.

The comedian, who has written a book, Revolution, about how he want to see society change, said he was “absolutely not” planning to succeed Boris Johnson.

In an interview, Brand told XFM presenter Jon Holmes: “I think we’ve already got a comedian who’s more known for his hair than his policies.”

Holmes asked him: “So this is a no, you’re not going to do it?”

Brand replied: “Absolutely not. We’ve already got a comic in the job. If you want a daft comedian running London, just leave things as they are. What I’m interested in is real change.”

“Boris Johnson… takes five times more meetings with bankers than he does with civil servants, or representatives of the fire brigade, or any ordinary Londoner,” Brand added.

At the weekend, Johnson wrote: “Russell Brand may be about as convincing as a political theorist as a toaster made by Russell Hobbs, but he is at least engaging his left-wing audience with something they can recognise as passion.”