Blur's Dave Rowntree Outlines Election Manifesto

Posted on Nov 6th 2009 6:52AM by Spinner Staff
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With Blur's summer reunion now behind him, the band's drummer Dave Rowntree is preparing himself for what could be the biggest gig of his life.

Forget headlining Glastonbury or Hyde Park, Rowntree is now putting all his efforts into securing a seat in the House of Commons at the next UK general election. He'll be representing the Labour Party in the Cities of London and Westminster seat, traditionally a Conservative Party stronghold.

Despite this however, in an interview with BBC London, Rowntree insisted he doesn't consider himself to be a politician: "I am an activist, one of millions of activists up and down the country and I am campaigning in my neighbourhood for things to be better. I am one of the grunts really."

He went on to outline the main issues that he will base his campaign around. "The biggest issue in Westminster is housing. It is a particular concern of mine because it sits at the top of a pyramid of lots of other issues. If there is bad housing then you will also get drug problems, mental health problems, unemployment, crime and anti-social behaviour."

Asked about the prospect of people finding a rock star knocking on their door Rowntree was typically self deprecating: "They're not getting a rock star! I'm a drummer in Blur."

In the interview the drummer also revealed he is training to be a solicitor after working at a friend's law firm, an experience that left him shocked. "There is still a Dickensian underclass in Britain who have no one fighting their corner apart from defence solicitors," he said. "That made me very angry. That was what made me get more involved with the Labour Party and to see what I could do to change the situation."

Asked whether, after all this is over, there could be another Blur reunion Rowntree said the band members are yet to decide their future. "It's an open question that we haven't really talked about yet," he said. "We've all got stuff to do up until the summer of next year. So there was no possibility of us just starting the band up again, or even any point of saying what's next."