A Gogglebox star has put his couch critic days behind him to pursue a career in Westminster.
Josh Tapper, who previously participated on 10 seasons of the Channel 4 show with his mother Nikki, father Jonathan, and sister Amy, has been named a Labour parliamentary candidate.
The 26-year-old will face Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden in the Hertsmere seat of Hertfordshire in the general election.
Confirming his campaign, Josh wrote on X: ‘I’m thrilled and honoured to have been selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Hertsmere.
‘Thank you so much to local members for your support – I won’t let you down.
‘The work to unseat the Deputy Prime Minister starts now!’
Josh had been eyeing Whitehall for some years before leaving Gogglebox in 2018 to accept a Cabinet Office position.
At the time he told The Mirror that the door had been left open for him to return, but that ‘the focus is now very much on my job.’
Speaking of his first day on the job, he said: ‘It was really surreal walking through that front door of Number 10.
‘After a few seconds you completely forget where you are…in the heart of Government.’
I’m thrilled and honoured to have been selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Hertsmere.
Thank you so much to local members for your support – I won’t let you down.
The work to unseat the Deputy Prime Minister starts now! https://t.co/rHrDFxjYyu pic.twitter.com/XehEUFvFLH
— Josh Tapper (@JoshDTapper) March 19, 2024
Josh seems to have caught the political bug following the two-year tenure, running as a Labour candidate for Chipping Barnet some years later.
He launched his campaign in 2022 with the goals of’reversing Tory negligence on our open areas’ and ‘pioneering institutional transformation in mental health care’.
If elected MP for Hertsmere, Josh has committed to address the cost of living problem, invest in the NHS, establish a green economy, enhance education, increase the number of social and affordable houses, and revitalise the high street and town centres.
Josh developed an interest in politics after seeing Rob Lowe’s portrayal of Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn on The West Wing.
Josh is hardly the first Gogglebox personality to dabble in politics.
The Michaels family departed the Channel 4 favourite in 2014 because father Andrew was running as a UKIP candidate for the general election.
However, the Brighton-based family returned to the programme the following year when Andrew, who died in 2021, was unsuccessful in winning the Hastings and Rye seat for UKIP.
The administration has not announced the general election date, but Rishi Sunak has ruled out a “snap vote” on May 2, when people would vote for local elections.
The ‘working assumption’ is that it will take place in the second part of this year, while others have predicted that it may happen sooner.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said it may happen in October.
The prime minister can call a general election as late as January 2025. A meeting is required every five years.