Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has failed in his bid to become an MP at the General Election.
Most rock stars couldn’t give a damn about politics. For Dave Rowntree, though, political convictions have always come first. The Blur drummer is a well known Labour supporter, and has campaigned on behalf of the party.
At the General Election on Thursday (May 6th) Dave Rowntree stood as the Labour candidate for the Cities Of London And Westminster constituency but failed to win the seat.
A Conservative safe seat, it was held by Mark Field with a majority of over 11,000. Still, Dave Rowntree came a thoroughly respectable second place gaining 8,188 votes. Speaking on Twitter, Dave Rowntree said: “I came second, vote held up well”.
Meanwhile, fellow Labour candidate Karen Buck was re-elected in the nearby Westminster North seat to the drummer’s obvious delight. “Karen Buck kept her seat,” he wrote. “Fantastic result!”
Earlier, Dave Rowntree had slated Conservative leader David Cameron for not being a real Smiths fans. The politician had his photo taken outside the Salford Lads Club in Manchester two years ago.
“He’s a Smiths tourist, “Rowntree told the Guardian. “Real Smiths fans dress a certain kind of way, and they have a certain kind of haircut, and they wear certain kinds of T-shirts. But what they probably don’t do is have their picture taken outside the Salford Lads Club.”
Referring to his own political career, Dave Rowntree said: People write that Dave quit the band to concentrate on his political career, but I don’t have a political career”.
“I’m an activist. I go round knocking on doors trying to find problems to solve.”
