London

Why are you doing this?
‘There’s no single lightning flash of inspiration that led me to do this. I joined Labour five years ago and started turning up to local meetings. If you’re under 60 and turn up to meetings for your local Labour Party, they’ll elect you as a candidate. Nobody else came forward, so I was elected.’ Feature continues

Strange timing. Most musicians are desperate to distance themselves from Labour these days…
‘I’m very, very un-rock ’n’ roll. I’m a bit of a nerd, really. I joined the Labour Party because I believe in socialist values. As to whether I’m being used by the Labour Party – I am the Labour Party! Local activists are what the party’s made up of. [For the Labour Party to use] famous faces right now would be exactly the wrong thing to do.’

You and Damon Albarn must have some interesting discussions? [Albarn is an outspoken critic of the Government. He declined one invitation to 10 Downing Street with a note saying: ‘I am no longer a New Labour supporter. I am now a communist. Enjoy the schmooze, comrade.’]
‘You can be friends with somebody that you disagree with can’t you? I’d much rather be friends with interesting people who challenge your opinions.’

What are your policies?
‘I do local politics, not to be confused with parliamentary politics. I’m campaigning to save Macintosh House, a sheltered-housing project in the borough that the council wants to close and sell the lease back to developers for £1.4m. They have decided that money takes priority over residents. There’s also a school in Fitzrovia which is in a large residential area where families live. They want a pedestrian crossing so I’m pushing for that. It’s not politics for people who want a demonstration, it’s politics for people who have a problem and want to do something about it. It’s neither Blair or Brown.’

What about other Westminster issues, such as late licensing?
‘That’s not an issue I’ll be campaigning on. I’m not gonna bullshit you and tell you I have an opinion on things I don’t have an opinion on. Some of the residents don’t think the balance has been struck enough, the others do.’

Anything else we can expect under councillor Dave?
‘I’d put Shirley Porter on trial over the tens of millions of pounds she used to buy votes – that money should be put back into hospitals [in 1987, Porter was key in selling off hundreds of council homes to potential Tory voters]. Westminster is the last bastion of Thatcherite Tories in the country. They are all puffed up buffoons.’

But larger issues must come up as you’re campaigning. What about Iraq?
My girlfriend’s mother was a nurse who was arrested by Saddam Hussein. My girlfriend flew round the Middle East and got her mother released. She met all the people involved – Saddam and his sons. So I got a different perspective of what was going on. My take on the war was that Saddam was a horrendous murdering dictator and thought nothing of killing his own people and at that time he had to go. I’m not a pacifist, I do believe that some things are worth fighting for, and dying for. I understand that that’s easier to say, I’m not being the one who’s asked to die, but Saddam was such an illegal ruthless bastard I didn’t shed any tears for it [the war].

Are you getting flak because you’re supporting Labour?
Come on – anyone who supports Labour gets flak at the moment, but you have to take it on the chin. What I do believe in is Labour core values: social justice, richer people in society helping the poorer people in society, again all the nerdy stuff to do with what it means to be a socialist rings true for me.

How do you think you’ll do?
I’ll lose probably. But if I win I will have overturned 300 years of history.

See www.westminster.gov.uk