Georgia Harrison 'had talks' about becoming Labour MP

TV personality Georgia Harrison has said she has had "serious conversations" with Labour MPs about a bid to represent the party in Essex.

The former Love Island star, 28, told the Sun she felt Britain needed "more normal people going into politics".

Ms Harrison has campaigned on violence against women and girls - and hopes a run for Parliament would inspire girls.

Her ex-partner Stephen Bear was jailed earlier this year for posting intimate footage of her online.

Speaking to the Sun about the possibility of becoming a Labour candidate, she said: "I had serious conversations with a couple of Labour MPs about if I could run for Essex, and they said it would be possible.

"They told me to go away and think about it. They said if I was being serious about running for an MP it is something that they would support me with.

"I think also for little girls growing up seeing someone like me running for an MP would be quite inspiring.

"We need more normal people going into politics."

It has not yet been confirmed whether Ms Harrison will become a parliamentary candidate, nor which constituency she might run in.

Each of Essex's 18 parliamentary constituencies are held by Conservative MPs, including Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and former Home Secretary Priti Patel.

She started criminal proceedings against Bear in 2020. He had used CCTV cameras in his garden to capture them having sex before sending it to a friend and uploading it to OnlyFans - none of which Ms Harrison consented to.

At his sentencing hearing in March, he was jailed for 21 months for voyeurism and disclosing private, sexual photographs and films.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool earlier this month, Ms Harrison said the years waiting for her case to be heard had been "detrimental to my career and my mental health, which was really hard for me".

She also called for sexual assault victims to be prioritised in the justice system to prevent them going through the same wait as her.

The Online Safety Bill was amended in June, meaning it will become easier to prosecute people for sharing so-called revenge porn - the sharing of an intimate image or video without consent.

The amendment removed the requirement for prosecutors to prove perpetrators intended to cause distress to secure a conviction.

To become a Labour MP, prospective candidates need to be party members and win a selection process, determined by the party, for a particular seat, before they are able to stand at a general election.

Labour did not wish to comment when approached by BBC News. Ms Harrison's representatives have been approached for further comment.