Norwich Labour candidate apologises for joke about Ed Miliband and bestiality

Labour candidate for Norwich South, Clive Lewis. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Archant)

Clive Lewis, a contender for Norwich South, said he took nothing for granted, despite implying it would take a scandal for him to lose the seat.

In an interview with the New Statesman he said: 'I'm more worried about complacency [than the Greens],' – referring to University of East Anglia pollster Chris Hanretty's predictions at the time that he was 97pc likely to win the seat.

He said: 'I mean, in the multiverse there's still three universes in a hundred where there's a Green MP in Norwich, so anything could happen.

'I could be caught with my pants down behind a goat with Ed Miliband at the other end – well, hopefully that won't happen.'

Liberal Democrat contender Simon Wright, who he is trying to unseat, said: 'It is both tasteless and supremely arrogant.

'Not a single vote has been cast yet in this election, and Labour are already taking voters in Norwich South for granted.'

But Mr Lewis said this week: 'We are fighting hard for every vote in Norwich South and will continue to do so right up until the election – I take nothing for granted.'

Addressing, what he described as a joke, he said: 'On occasion we all have the ability to get carried away with language and colourful metaphors. If anyone was genuinely offended then I'm sincerely sorry for that.

'However, if my opponents have nothing better to throw at me than an off-colour joke then it seems clear to me they have no answers to vital issues like our city's future jobs, housing, inequality or the NHS.'

He added that there was a 'fundamental choice in this election between the two men who can be prime minister – Ed Miliband or David Cameron'.

He said Labour would bring fairness and progressive politics back into the heart of Downing Street.