Dave Rowntree, the drummer for the band Blur, has been announced as a candidate for the Labour Party at the next British general election in the Mid Sussex constituency. Rowntree lost his bid to become a Labour MP for the cities of London and Westminster in 2010. From 2017 to 2021 he served as a councillor for the University ward in Norwich. Rowntree is hoping to provide “energy and vision” to an area that he feels is in desperate need of it.
Rowntree had this to say regarding his candidacy: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to become Labour’s first Mid Sussex MP. Residents have their best chance in a generation to make their vote count and return a Labour MP to parliament. The Tories have run out of ideas, and the Lib Dems have run out of steam. I’m running for parliament to provide the energy and vision the area so desperately needs.”
Rowntree is not the first musician to become a Labour Party candidate; in December, Gomez guitarist and Chair of the Ivors Academy Tom Gray beat Eddie Izzard in the bid to be Brighton Pavilion’s Labour candidate at the next UK general election.
Blur’s most recent release was 2023’s ‘The Ballad Of Darren’. A review by NME gave the album 4 out of 5 stars stating, “Unlike many of their peers, there has never been a timelessness to a Blur album – that’s a good thing.” The band is set to release a new documentary and concert film this year showcasing their 2023 reunion and will be performing at Coachella in April.
Rowntree expressed his thoughts on the latest budget in a tweet: “This is the weirdest budget ever. A bunch of minor policy announcements…What a waste of an hour. Tiny policy announcements. Fiddling with the tax system. Bogus productivity savings rather than proper funding. AI fixing all problems.”
Rowntree will not change any of his political views, nor will he add any new information regarding the upcoming election
Read the full article on NME here: Read More