Celebrities running in the general election: from Gogglebox star to Blur's Dave Rowntree

Nuray Bulbul

7 June 2024 at 5:16 am·3-min read

Dave Rowntree, second left, with Blur. Could he be Mid-Sussex’s next MP? (PA)

It’s not uncommon for public figures to turn to politics.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy had a career as an actor and comedian before becoming the president of Ukraine in 2019.

TV personality Gyles Brandreth gained a seat for the Conservatives in the 1992 election, while the late Oscar winner Glenda Jackson represented Labour for many years.

With the general election just around the corner, here are the celebrities hoping to become some of the UK's next MPs.

Josh Tapper

Labour has chosen Josh Tapper, a former Gogglebox star, to challenge deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden in Hertsmere, Hertfordshire.

Tapper is optimistic he can win in light of the recent by-elections in which the Tories lost safe seats.

Tapper entered the civil service after quitting Gogglebox, according to his own website. In addition, he served as a trustee for Homeless Action, a Barnet charity.

"Thank you so much to local members for your support – I won't let you down. The work to unseat the deputy prime minister starts now!" he tweeted in a statement on X.

Dave Rowntree

The drummer for Blur has been chosen to run as a Labour candidate in the Conservative-held Mid Sussex seat in an attempt to finally flip it red.

Mims Davies is the current representative for the area, which includes the towns of Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and East Grinstead.

While Rowntree had great success with Blur, he has experience in politics too. He was chosen to serve as a Labour county councillor for Norfolk's University ward in May 2017. He stepped down in 2021 and unsuccessfully ran as Labour's parliamentary candidate for the Cities of Westminster and London.

Tom Gray

Rowntree isn’t the only musician switching paths to politics.

Co-founder of the band Gomez Tom Gray has long been known for his activism for Labour. It was announced in December that he intended to run for the party's Brighton Pavilion seat.

The announcement by Green MP Caroline Lucas that she would be standing down has raised Labour’s hopes of winning the seat for the first time since 2005.

Comedian and actor Eddie Izzard had also made a bid to stand for Brighton Pavilion but the party chose Gray instead.

James Cracknell

James Cracknell, the Olympic rowing champion, was selected by the Conservatives to run as their candidate in Colchester in the general election.

He rowed with Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, winning gold in the coxless fours at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

He has a lengthy history with the Conservative Party; over the years, there have been multiple reports that the athlete was running for a Tory seat.In the 2014 south-west England European elections, he ran as an MEP for the party.

Alison Hume

Television writer Alison Hume created the 2005 BBC drama Rocket Man, starring Robson Green, and the CBBC series The Sparticle Mystery.She also wrote the 2002 film Pure, starring Keira Knightley, and the 2008 television movie Summerhill, featuring Olly Alexander, a recent Eurovision contestant.

The screenwriter is running to be the Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby. She is campaigning with Tarka, a rescue dog and her campaign mascot. Hume is a disability campaigner and trade unionist, and she hopes to unseat Sir Robert Goodwill, who took the seat from Labour in 2005.

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Josh Tapper

Dave Rowntree

Tom Gray

James Cracknell

Alison Hume

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