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How are the stars of rock, pop and grime voting in the 2019 UK general election?

By Rhian Daly
Wolf Alice Ellie Rowsell Coldplay Chris Martin Stormzy
Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell, Coldplay's Chris Martin, and Stormzy. Credit: Getty Images

With the December 12 general election just around the corner and the deadline to register to vote in it tonight (November 26), the media and social media has been awash with your favourite famouses getting involved in the conversation. Some have chosen not to nudge their followers in any one direction, while others have struck tones of urgency in their pleas to vote for a particular party. Here are how some of the stars of indie, grime, and pop are planning to vote next month.

Stormzy

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It is very very very important that every single person who reads this goes and registers to vote. The deadline is 23:59 tomorrow, the link is in my bio. Do not just scroll past, don’t sit there and think “my one little vote ain’t gonna do anything”—your vote is CRUCIAL. Your “one little vote” can quite literally tip the scale for what will be the most important election of our generation. Your “one little vote” means everything, there were millions of people who thought there “one little vote” didn’t mean shit and now Trump is the president of America and we are leaving the EU. So your vote really does count. I will be registering to vote and I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn. There are several reasons as to why I’m voting for him – I would be here all day if I began to list them…but in my 26 years of life I have never trusted politicians or relied on them to be the bearers of hope and righteous people that we’ve needed them to be. And for me, he is the first man in a position of power who is committed to giving the power back to the people and helping those who need a helping hand from the government the most. I think Boris Johnson is a sinister man with a long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people that our government should be committed to helping and empowering. I also believe it is criminally dangerous to give the most powerful role in the country to a man who has said that the sight of a “bunch of black kids” makes him “turn a hair”, compared women in burqas to letterboxes and referred to blacks people as “picaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”. I think it’s extremely dangerous to have a man with those views as the sole leader of our country. These are all MY views, I don’t care for your love or hate for them. I just think it’s important that we all register and go out and vote. And I think it’s important that we use our vote to make sure that the person who runs our country for the next 4 years is someone committed to doing what is right. GO OUT AND DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND TRY YOUR BEST TO LEARN AND UNDERSTAND WHO IT IS YOU’RE VOTING FOR. THE LINK TO REGISTER TO VOTE IS IN MY BIO. ??

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Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: As the deadline to register to vote loomed, the grime MC urged his followers to get registered and educate themselves on their choices. “I will be registering to vote and I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn,” he said in the lengthy missive. “For me, he is the first man in a position of power who is committed to giving the power back to the people and helping those who need a helping hand from the government the most. I think Boris Johnson is a sinister man with a long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people that our government should be committed to helping and empowering.” Voter registration spiked at 236 percent on the same day Stormzy shared the post.

Wolf Alice

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Hi Uk friends, promise u we r hard at work writing new music (see video included) but we r breaking radio silence to stress the importance of making sure u r registered to vote in the upcoming election. The deadline is the 26 OF NOVEMBER. This is your chance to have a say in what you want your future to look like. Don’t let other people decide it for you. We need CHANGE and that means getting the Tories OUT so let’s take this election as an opportunity to do so. You’ll need your national insurance number and then all u need to do is head over to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and fill out a small online form at this point u don’t even need to know who to vote for just make sure you’re registered!!!! Don’t sleep on it this is the most important thing u will do today! Spread the word! xxxxxxxxx

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Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: “We need CHANGE and that means getting the Tories OUT so let’s take this election as an opportunity to do so,” the band wrote on Instagram. Their support of Labour and Corbyn is no surprise – the band previously played a Tories Out protest after the Conservative party entered into a coalition with the DUP in 2017 and at a Labour rally before the last general election, while frontwoman Ellie Rowsell also urged people to vote Labour in an official video for the party.

Guitarist Joff Oddie has also been vocal about the 2019 election on Twitter, telling his followers: “The @Conservatives have almost doubled national debt in their time in office by handing out tax breaks to the 1% while leaving the other 99% to deal with austerity, stagnating wages and underfunded public services. THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH OUR ECONOMY. Vote @UKLabour.”

Chris Martin

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Who they’re voting for: Lib Dem (probably).
What have they said: In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Coldplay leader joked about voting for the Monster Raving Loony Party before saying he would “probably” vote for Jo Swinson’s party. He didn’t explain his reasons in detail, but did add: “If you think how much expansion has happened in the last 25 years, it’s no wonder some things contract. All the weirdness at the moment is a reaction against the freedom of expression that has happened. No one is wrong. It is just a question of when people engage. Like with climate crisis.”

Shame

cursedbythe – A Campaign Song

Posted by Cursed.by.the on Thursday, November 21, 2019

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: Shame haven’t just spoken in support of Corbyn, but put their feelings into song. Bassist Josh Finerty and friend Theo teamed up for ‘A Campaign Song’, which acts as something of an extended jingle for Labour. “Vote Labour, for the many and not the few,” the chorus goes, before giddily adding later: “We win, Brexit’s not happening.”

MIA

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Who they’re voting for: Labour
What have they said: MIA helped launch the Arts For All manifesto with Corbyn, writing on Twitter after: “ART should be accessed by EVERY1!! My council paid for my fees. freelancing should not just be for the privileged, who can afford time to experiment. Broadband for everyone will empower kids in council flats to educate themselves and create economy.” She’s also thanked Labour for including the Tamils in their manifesto, which pledges to protect their rights in Sri Lanka.

Lily Allen

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: Lily’s Twitter feed recently has been a highly informative series of retweets, sharing with her followers tweets and articles breaking down the pros and cons of Labour and the Conservatives’ manifestos. She also shared a TikTok video of her with a crying filter, in which she called Labour’s manifesto “the best manifesto I’ve ever seen”.

Lowkey

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: In an old video from the 2017 general election, Lowkey told his followers: “Previously, the idea had been these people are not speaking to us, about us, for us. Jeremy Corbyn is a clear exception to that rule. We have a choice between policies which foster empathy and policies which foster greed, resentment, and alienation.” He reposted that video on his Instagram earlier this week (November 24) and, although Corbyn now faces Boris Johnson instead of Theresa May, his points remain the same. 

Massive Attack

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This evening, the TSG Radio Co (Ltd) will form an audio-rivulet through Westminster. Via sound, voice & airwave, this unheard-of flowing station will amplify all noises that tell us we are heading to climate catastrophe while our government is asleep at the rudder (living out its own private nightmares.) Just like the River Tyburn that silently flows beneath the Westminster concrete, peaceful voices presently imploring government and trans-national fossil fuel companies to change course are also being suppressed. Some are paying with their liberty. From 1730 GMT, the illegally toxic air of London will act as carriage and tapestry for electronic sound and human voice signalling that in acute planetary emergency, hiding single use coffee cups when photographers are nearby is just not good enough. Waving and drowning are not mutually exclusive. Nor are leadership and responsibility. Mic drop. TSG Radio Co Ltd. @extinctionrebellion

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Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: Massive Attack are one of many artists to sign an open letter backing Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader earlier this month (November 16). They’ve also been keenly involved in Extinction Rebellion’s efforts and wrote in an Instagram post about an audio protest: “Via sound, voice & airwave, this unheard-of flowing station will amplify all noises that tell us we are heading to climate catastrophe while our government is asleep at the rudder […] Waving and drowning are not mutually exclusive. Nor are leadership and responsibility.”

Nadia Rose

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: “I’m voting for Jeremy Corbyn because I personally believe he is for the people, as am I,” Nadia wrote in an op-ed for Metro about why every citizen’s vote counts. “I’m also going to be headlining #Grime4Corbyn, because music and entertainment is one of the most powerful ways to get a message out.”

Kieran Shudall (Circa Waves)

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: “We feel passionate about looking after everybody in the country and not just looking after number one, which seems to be the case with other political parties,” the Circa Waves frontman told NME recently of the band’s reasons for supporting Corbyn.

Yonaka

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: The band used an attention-grabbing photo (see above) of drummer Robert Mason with only a sock covering his modesty to encourage their followers to register to vote and “get these tories out”.

Clean Bandit:

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: The band performed at Corbyn’s Arts For All manifesto and have been using their social media accounts to retweet information about the upcoming election to their many followers.

Nadine Shah

Who they’re voting for: Labour.
What have they said: Shah has long been outspoken on her support for Labour and views on the Tories. “For how long is this PIECE OF SHIT newspaper allowed to carry on spouting blatant lies to us?!” she tweeted following a televised debate between Johnson and Corbyn. “I watched the debate and Jeremy Corbyn was by far the superior. I will be voting labour in this election. Unlike the @DailyMailUK I care about the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Noel Gallagher

Who they’re voting for: Probably no one.
What have they said: Gallagher doesn’t seem to have been on anyone’s side since the beginning of the decade and that looks set to continue to be the case in December. In a new interview with the Big Issue, the former Oasis guitarist called Corbyn a “fucking disgrace” and said of Johnson: “Fuck that cunt.”

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