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."
