WANNABE MP
Drummer in huge British rock band selected as Labour candidate for general election
See a list of other famous faces in politics
THE drummer of a huge British rock band has been selected as a Labour candidate at the next general election.
Dave Rowntree said he was "absolutely thrilled" to be standing for the Conservative-held seat in Sussex.
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The drummer for Blur has been selected to stand in Mid Sussex, the Labour party announced on Wednesday evening.
The constituency includes Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the Mid Sussex villages and is currently represented by Mims Davies.
The 59-year-old wrote on X on Wednesday: "I'm absolutely thrilled to have been selected as the @UKLabour candidate for Mid Sussex!
"Now the work begins."
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Rowntree, who lives near Guildford and released his debut album Radio Songs in January last year, added in a statement: "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."
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The Mid Sussex Labour group posted on X: "We think Dave will be an excellent and very successful candidate."
It is Rowntree's second run for Parliament, having stood unsuccessfully in 2010 against former Conservative MP Mark Field in the Cities of London and Westminster.
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The drummer has been a Labour member since the 1990s, meanwhile traversing a varied career with roles as a criminal lawyer, an animator, a flying instructor, and a Labour county councillor.
Davies, the incumbent MP for Mid Sussex, announced in May that she would stand in the new seat of East Grinstead and Uckfield.
It is not yet clear whether Rowntree will remain with Blur if elected.
He is among the four founding members of the band, along with the singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, and bass player Alex James.
Blur played two gigs at Wembley last summer in what were their first major UK shows since 2015.
Other MPs who emerged from a background in music include David Morris, who was a guitarist in the 1980s, and Pete Wishart, who was a founding member of Scottish rock group Big Country.
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And Tom Gray, of the rock band Gomez, was selected in December as the Labour candidate for Brighton Pavilion in the upcoming general election.
Overseas, the Australian frontman of Midnight Oil Peter Garrett was famously elected to the position of Environment Minister in 2007, and singer Sonny Bono to the United States House of Representatives in 1994.
Famous faces in politics
BLUR drummer Dave Rowntree has been selected as a Labour candidate at the next general election.
He is one of many famous faces to have swapped music for politics, with others including:
Conservative MP David Morris: Guitarist in the 1980s
SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire Pete Wishart: Fouding member of the Scottish rock group Big Country and part of the group Runrig
Labour candidate for Brighton Pavilion Tom Gray: Member of the rock band Gomez
And overseas:
Peter Garrett: Midnight Oil frontman, elected Environment Minister in 2007 (Australia)
Sonny Bono: American singer and member of popular singing duo Sonny & Cher, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994
Krist Novoselic: Nirvana bassist, political activist
Dana Rosemary Scallon: Irish singer and songwriter and voice behind "All Kinds of Everything", ran unsuccessfully for President of Ireland in 2011 and was later elected as an MEP for Connacht–Ulster in 1999
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