Election 2015: Russell Brand says 'vote Labour' after Ed Miliband interview

Comedian Russell Brand has endorsed Labour a week after an interview with party leader Ed Miliband.

Brand, who courted controversy in 2013 when he told BBC Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman that he "had never voted, never will", urged Britons to vote Labour on 7 May in a final broadcast of his political show The Trews posted on YouTube.

But critics have pointed out the U-turn could be too late for Britons among the 10 million who follow Brand on Twitter who were won over by his original no-vote stance, given the deadline for voter registration passed on 20 April.

In the broadcast, Brand and Miliband are seen discussing the future of democracy in Britain and specifically the role of community engagement in Britain. Miliband tells the comedian how the Conservatives were a "virtual party" with no roots among real people.

Speaking to the camera from his bedroom after the clip, Brand says: "There's loads of things I could complain about with Ed Miliband. What's important is this bloke will be in parliament and I think this bloke will listen to us. So on 7 May vote Labour," he says.

"I know I have been Mr Don't Vote. But, actually, what I mean is politics isn't something that we can just be involved in every five years. Democracy is by every day, not just for elections. Democracy has to be something you are constantly involved in."

Brand's interview with Miliband drew heavy criticism from some parts of the media as well as by Prime Minister David Cameron, who branded the comedian "a joke".

But while Brand urged voters to cast their ballots for Labour in the national campaign, he urged voters in Brighton to return Caroline Lucas to Parliament, where she is the Green Party's sole MP.

He said: "If you're in Brighton I think it'd be a travesty if we lost the voice of Caroline Lucas in Westminster. But anywhere else you've got to vote Labour, you've got to get the Conservative party out of government in this country so that we can begin community-led activism, so that we can be heard continually."