Former Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin – who has been elected as Jo Cox’s successor as Labour MP for Batley and Spen in the by-election – is not the first star to enter British politics, with mixed results

Women In Love actress Glenda Jackson was one of Britain’s most successful stars on stage and screen, winning two Oscars before she decided to embark on a new career.

Tracey Brabin
Tracey Brabin, a former Coronation Street actress, has won the the Batley and Spen by-election (Dave Higgens/PA)

She became Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate in the 1992 general election, the first Labour candidate to win the seat since 1966, and went on to become a critic of Tony Blair, opposing the Iraq War.

She stepped down, after 23 years as an MP, at the 2015 general election.

Glenda Jackson and John Prescott
Glenda Jackson (Peter Jordan/PA)

Martin Bell, a BBC war reporter and foreign correspondent, entered politics – complete with a white suit – in 1997.

Running as an independent, he launched an anti-sleaze campaign and successfully ran against disgraced Tory MP Neil Hamilton following the “cash-for-questions” scandal.

He failed to win a different seat at the 2001 election, saying: “I have won one seat and lost one – that’s not a bad record for an amateur.”

Martin Bell
Martin Bell (Ian Nicholson/PA)

And he called time on his political career after not winning a seat in the European Parliament in 2004, having campaigned against waste and fraud within the EU.

These days, Lord Coe is famous for running London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics and as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

But the former middle-distance runner, who won two Olympic gold medals, was a Tory MP from 1992 to 1997. He became a peer in 2000.

Seb Coe
Seb Coe (Sport and General S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport)

Another athlete, former sprinter Sir Menzies Campbell, entered Parliament in 1987.

He became Liberal Democrat leader and stood down as an MP last year.

Sir Menzies Campbell
Sir Menzies Campbell (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth joked that he entered politics in 1992 “because I like the sound of my own voice”.

The Conservative MP for Chester lost his seat five years later, in 1997.

Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Brandreth (Hannah McKay/PA)

Current Labour MP Gloria De Piero and Conservative Esther McVey – who lost her seat in 2015 – both previously made their names on breakfast show GMTV.

Anna Soubry, who has been a Conservative MP since 2010, was an occasional presenter on This Morning in the 1980s.

The outspoken MP, who resigned from her ministerial role in Theresa May’s reshuffle, was also a presenter of regional show North Tonight and a reporter on Central News East.

Anna Soubry
Anna Soubry (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Politics has more failures than it does success stories when it comes to stars attempting to enter Westminster.

Katie Price lost her deposit when she picked up just 713 votes as an independent in the Manchester seat of Stretford and Urmston in 2001.

Her manifesto pledges included free plastic surgery and package holidays on the NHS as the glamour model campaigned “for a bigger and betta future”.

Katie Price
Katie Price (Phil Noble/PA)

“I know it will take a big swing to win the seat but there’s no bigger swinger than me,” she had said.

Al Murray picked up just 318 votes when he took on – as his alter ego The Pub Landlord – Nigel Farage at the 2015 general election.

A comedy candidate, his pledges included getting the UK to leave the solar system by 2025 and for Greece to be bought and operated by Kent County Council.

Al Murray
Nigel Farage (left) and Al Murray (Matt Dunham/AP/PA)

TV presenter and charity campaigner Esther Rantzen campaigned as an independent candidate, standing against sleaze, in 2010… but she gained less than 2,000 votes.

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree lost his bid for a Labour seat on Westminster City Council in 2008.

Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen (Steve Parsons/PA)

Screen star Vanessa Redgrave stood twice on behalf of the Workers Revolutionary Party and lost her deposit on both occasions.

Conspiracy theorist and former footballer and sports presenter David Icke won just 110 votes when he contested the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election – after successfully predicting that he did not have “any chance of winning”.

Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave (Yui Moi/PA)