Dave Rowntree, the drummer of Blur and Labour candidate, failed in his attempt to become MP of the Mid Sussex constituency, losing to Liberal Democrat candidate Alison Bennett. Rowntree announced he had been selected as the Labour Party candidate in March 2024 and expressed his excitement at becoming the first Labour MP for the area. However, the recent general election saw Labour achieve a historic victory, ending 14 years of Conservative rule, but Rowntree was not amongst those elected.
The FAC (Featured Artists Coalition), for whom Rowntree is an Artist in Residence, has commiserated with the unsuccessful candidate, but expressed their willingness to work with any new influx of MPs following Labour’s win. During the FAC AGM in 2023, Rowntree addressed the financial issues faced by musicians due to streaming, stating that Blur’s album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ had tens of millions of streams on Spotify alone, yet cassette sales had a more significant impact on their chart position.
Last year, Rowntree gave his thoughts on Keir Starmer and predicted his election victory, saying that the “test is at General Elections” and that if Starmer wins, he will be widely regarded as the most visionary Labour leader of modern times. However, if he loses, he will be seen as someone who achieved nothing and wrecked the Labour Party. With Labour’s recent historic victory, Rowntree’s predictions about the Labour leader have been proven correct.
Blur has recently announced their new “Live at Wembley Stadium” album, which accompanies their brand-new documentary and concert film “To The End.” NME shared a five-star review of the film, where they praised the band for showing how much they support each other, even though they bicker and call each other names. Whether Blur’s recent reunion will continue remains to be seen, but their latest concert film is highly anticipated amongst their fans
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