The pop group behind New Labour’s 1997 victory anthem Things Will Only Get Better said they would deny a request from Sir Keir Starmer to use the track in the upcoming General Election. D:Ream’s founding members Alan Mackenzie and Peter Cunnah said they were dismayed to hear their number one hit play through a loudspeaker as UK prime minister Rishi Sunak called a July 4th general election on a wet afternoon in Downing Street. Advertisement The pair told LBC their first thought was “not again”.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak issues a statement outside 10 Downing Street after calling a UK general election for July 4th. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA. Speaking from his recording studio at home in Donegal, Cunnah told LBC: “The fact that it’s gone back to a political thing, I find disturbing.
I was thinking, can we get on with our lives? But now it’s come back. Advertisement “You question, are we just some sort of protest song on a speaker down at the end of a street? It’s like some very odd piece of gravity that you just can’t escape.” Advertisement The band expressed regret at letting Sir Tony Blair use the track for his general election victory in 1997, saying they were accused of “having blood on their hands” after the UK got involved with the war in Iraq.
“I remember clearly, there was this wonderful sea change, and the nation had this feeling that there was a need for change,” Cunnah said. “Everyone was really behind it and giving Labour the benefi.
