Meet the first comedian MSP

Comedian Mark McDonald has been elected to the Scottish Parliament.

He promptly quit his fledgeling stand-up career after overwhelmingly winning Aberdeen South for the SNP in yesterday's poll

He has performed three open mic spots at the city’s Breakneck Comedy Club since March, and had been invited back. But the 30-year-old told Chortle: ‘Describing me as a stand-up comedian would be something of a trades descriptions offence. Now that I’m elected, I’ll probably be knocking it on the head as I’ve bigger things to focus on.’

Regardless, he had attended the count in jeans and T-shirt, not expecting to win. Yet he secured 140,749 of the votes, a 52.7% share, part of a landslide victory that secured the SNP an overall majority in Holyrood,

Pouring scorn on the recent comedy performances of fellow politicians Lembit Opik and George Galloway, Scotland's first comedian MSP confessed: ‘I struggle to think too far beyond George Galloway in a red leotard pretending to be a cat.'

McDonald’s election follows Eddie Izzard’s announcement earlier this week that he intends to run for London mayor or as a Member of the European Parliament in 2020.

McDonald maintains he’s unlikely to return to comedy but won’t rule it out completely.

He said of his political career: ‘Hopefully, it wont go pear-shaped. I’ve learned today that you never know what’s round the corner and it’s best to enjoy the moment while it lasts and not think too far ahead.’

Seven more comics who turned politician

Al Franken: A Saturday Night Live veteran, known for his political comedy writing, he was sworn in as a Democratic Senator for Minnesota in 2009 after a close-fought contest.

Gyles Brandreth:As he discussed in a Chortle interview this week, the former Government Whip tried his hand at a number of jobs after leaving university, including performing stand-up at Bernard Manning’s notorious Embassy Club.

Mark Thomas: Stood to be an MP at the 1996 Hemsworth by-election, winning just 122 votes and losing his deposit. In 2009, policies suggested at his People’s Manifesto show by audiences were debated by MSPs at Holyrood during the Edinburgh Fringe.

Jón Gnarr Kristinsson::An Icelandic TV comedian (whose sitcom Næturvaktin has just been brought by BBC Four), he helped set up The Best Party in 2009, with the aim of making life more fun. The party won last year’s municipal elections in Reykjavík – and he’s now mayor of the capital. His manifesto included, a polar bear for the city zoo and a Disneyland for Iceland.

Eddie Izzard: Although he has supported many political campaigns from Europe to AV, Izzard has yet to make the leap from the comedy stage to the political one; although this week he said he would stand for either Mayor of London, or a Euro-MP, in 2020.

S S Chandran: appeared in more than 800 Bollywood films before joining India’s AIADMK party, rising to Deputy Propaganda Secretary

Sonomanma Higashi: He played a character in Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle and was elected governor of Miyazaki Prefecture in 2007.

by Jay Ricahrdson

Published: 6 May 2011