Here are the musical passions of the new British Prime Minister
The new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer He is a fan of indie and his favourite bands are The Smiths and Wedding Present, but he doesn’t disdain rap.
Last July 4th, at the end of the elections, a victory was recorded in the United Kingdom landslide victory for the centre-left Labour Party, which elected Keir Starmer (born London 2 September 1962) as the new Prime Minister, who brought his party back to power after 14 years of Conservative rule.
But before being a politician, Starmer is a man and therefore he also has his passions, among these is music. Having grown up in the late 70s and early 80s and attending the University of Leeds, he was very connected to the indie music scene of that period.
He says that “My Favorite Dress” of the Leeds group The Wedding Present is his favourite song, or at least his favourite of the group. “I was at Leeds University in the early 80s and I met Keith Gregory (bassist of the group from 1985 to 1993) and David Gedge (singer, guitarist, leader and founder of the band in Leeds in 1985 and always present in the line-up) through my friend John before the band started, so I knew The Wedding Present from the beginning of their career”, Starmer said in the book “All the Songs Sound The Same” dedicated to the band and written by David Gedge with the journalist Richard Houghton released in 2023. “My favourite song,” continued the now Prime Minister, “is ‘My Favourite Dress’. David has managed to perfectly distil the tortuous feelings of jealousy into three minutes of anguish. The guitar hook is fantastic too.”
Meanwhile, in an article of the Financial Times on “The Music That Made Me”, Starmer says he also loves the Orange Juice they Smithsciting “an early Smiths gig at Dingwalls in Camden” (in August 1983) as the most memorable concert he has ever attended. “Going to Leeds,” says the politician, “was an introduction to a whole new world of music. And I’m still exploring new music today.”
Keir was passionate about music since he was a child and learned to play the violin with Norman Cook (one year younger than him), who would later play bass in the Housemartins before being known throughout the world as Fatboy Slim.
Regarding more recent musical productions, Starmer told the Financial Times that “This Is What I Mean” by the British rapper Stormzy is one of his all-time favorite songs, adding: “Anyone who loved bands like Velvet Underground will hear something similar in Stormzy’s music.” As for concerts, Starmer and his wife went to see Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium, distracting themselves from the election campaign and demonstrating their presence on social media.
Keir Starmer, in his role as a lawyer, took the Who guitarist to court Pet Townshend on charges of child pornography, from which the musician it was then acquitted (Read here)
