Blur and Gogglebox to Olympic gold: The famous faces who could become MPs

Published

6 months ago

May 23, 2024

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It’s not just your lifelong politicans who enter the fray when it comes to election time.

With the next general election now confirmed for July, there are already some faces in the mix you might recognise from other walks of life.

They wouldn’t be the first from the worlds of entertainment and sport to venture into politics – the late Oscar-winner Glenda Jackson won a seat for Labour in the 1992 election, as did TV personality Gyles Brandreth for the Conservatives.

And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was known as a comedian and actor before assuming his current role in 2019.

Here are some new candidates hoping to become MPs in July – along with one who bowed out after just eight days.

Dave Rowntree

Blur‘s drummer has been selected as a Labour candidate standing for the Conservative-held Mid Sussex seat, and is hoping to turn it red for the first time.

The constituency, covering Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and the Mid Sussex villages, is currently represented by Mims Davies.

Despite finding huge success as a musician with Blur, Rowntree is no stranger to politics. In May 2017, he was elected as a Labour county councillor serving the University ward in Norfolk, standing down in 2021.

He also stood as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster in 2021, although was unsuccessful.

“The Tories have run out of ideas, and the Lib Dems have run out of steam,” Rowntree said when the news of his latest political bid was announced. “I’m running for parliament to provide the energy and vision the area so desperately needs.”

Blur played Wembley and returned to the top of the charts last year with their ninth studio album, The Ballad Of Darren.

James Cracknell

It was announced last year that Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell had been chosen as the Conservative candidate for Colchester for the next general election.

Best known for his time on the water, he won gold in the coxless fours at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and rowed alongside the likes of fellow Britons Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent.

In 2010, he suffered a serious brain injury when he was knocked off his bike in America – an incident that changed his personality and gave him epilepsy. However, he made a remarkable return to rowing in 2019, winning the university boat race with Cambridge. He also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing that same year.

Cracknell has previously been mentioned as a potential Conservative candidate and stood to be an MEP for the party in southwest England in 2014.

Now, he hopes to take over from Will Quince, who is standing down as MP for Colchester, where the Conservatives have a majority of 9,000 over Labour.

“My experience as a sportsman has taught me to set my own targets and on the way proving people wrong to achieve them,” he writes on his website. “I desperately want to be in a position to encourage people to back themselves. There is more potential, resilience and drive within each of us than we realise. Let’s back ourselves.”

He is up against historian Pam Cox, who is standing for Labour.

Tom Gray

Musician and activist Tom Gray is a Mercury Prize winner, a co-founder of indie rock band Gomez who has also written music for TV and theatre.

He is also a founder of the Broken Record campaign, calling for better practices in streaming, and chair of the Ivors Academy, the professional association for songwriters and composers.

He has long been known for his activism for Labour, and in December was announced as the party candidate in the Brighton Pavilion constituency – pipping comedian and actor Eddie Izzard, who had also made a bid to stand for the party.

Labour is hoping to win Brighton Pavilion for the first time since 2005 after Green MP Caroline Lucas announced she would be standing down.

Josh Tapper

A former star of Gogglebox, Josh Tapper has been selected by Labour to run against Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden in Hertsmere, Hertfordshire, at the next general election.

Mr Dowden has held the seat since 2015 and has a sizeable majority of 21,000.

However, with recent by-elections seeing the Tories ousted in safe seats, Tapper is hopeful he can inspire change.

“I’m thrilled and honoured to have been selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Hertsmere,” he said in a statement earlier this year. “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!”

Tapper first appeared on hit Channel 4 show Gogglebox with his family when he was a teenager in 2014. He quit the show in 2017 after landing a job in the civil service.

In 2022, he also stood for selection in the North London seat of Chipping Barnet.

And he is not the first Gogglebox star to move into politics. Andy Michael, who died in 2021, was part of the show’s first episode in 2013, but left a year later when he announced he was running in the general election for UKIP. His family rejoined the show after he was unsuccessful in the Hastings and Rye constituency.

Alison Hume

You may well know some of Alison Hume’s work as a British television writer. Hume, pictured above with Tarka, a rescue dog and her campaign mascot, is the creator of the CBBC series The Sparticle Mystery and the 2005 BBC drama Rocket Man, starring Robson Green. She also wrote the 2008 TV film Summerhill, starring recent Eurovision contestant Olly Alexander, and the 2002 film Pure, starring Keira Knightley.

A trade unionist and disability campaigner, she is standing to be the next Labour & Co-operative Party MP for Scarborough and Whitby – hoping to replace Sir Robert Goodwill who won the seat from Labour in 2005 and is now standing down.

Hume is a “proud graduate” of the Jo Cox Leadership training programme, according to York Press, which says that current polling predicts she will become the constituency’s first Labour MP in almost 20 years.

“I never intended to go into politics, but after 20 years balancing bringing up three children, one with complex disabilities, with a successful career in the creative industries and a track record in disability campaigning, well, here I am,” she writes on her website.

“I will work 24/7 for a future which brings equality of opportunity, investment and a fairer, greener future to our coast and country.”

Monty Panesar (briefly)

Former England cricket star Monty Panesar announced in April that he was standing as a candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain in the west London constituency of Ealing Southall.

Panesar, who played for England between 2006 and 2013, was set to run against Labour incumbent Virendra Sharma, who has been the MP there for 18 years.

Writing in The Telegraph, Panesar even said he had aspirations to “one day become prime minister”.

However, he withdrew his application after eight days, saying he needed more time to find his “political home, one that aligns with my personal and political values”.

He added: “I wish The Workers Party all the best but look forward to taking some time to mature and find my political feet so I am well prepared to deliver my very best when I next run up to the political wicket.”

Entertainment

Dune: Prophecy star Olivia Williams says series is the first time she has felt confident her scenes would not be cut

Published

6 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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Dune: Prophecy star Olivia Williams says series is the first time she has felt confident her scenes would not be cut

British actress Olivia Williams has said that in more than 30 years of acting on screen, starring in Dune: Prophecy is the first time she has felt confident her scenes would not be cut from a project.

Williams, who has appeared in films including The Sixth Sense, Rushmore and An Education, and portrayed Camilla Parker Bowles, before she became Queen, in the final two seasons of The Crown, can now be seen in the TV prequel to the blockbuster Denis Villeneuve films.

She stars alongside her close friend Emily Watson, with the pair playing the Harkonnen sisters – two women fighting forces that threaten the future of humankind.

Based on the Dune and Sisterhood of Dune novels, the Sky Atlantic show is set 10,000 years before the birth of Timothee Chalamet‘s character, Paul Atreides, in the films, and follows the two women as they found the fabled sisterhood that will later become known as the Bene Gesserit.

Despite knowing each other for 30 years, and even working at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at the same time, the show marks Williams and Watson’s first time on screen together.

Williams says they are often asked why they have never acted together before. There’s a simple answer, she tells Sky News. “It’s because there are no scripts for two women of the same age to lead a story.

“We’re used to playing the character that can, if the film’s running a bit long, be cut out because you don’t genuinely affect the plot of the show. Well, just try cutting the Harkonnen sisters out of this story!”

She adds: “We knew that our work would be used – which, in 35 years, I’d say is the first time that’s happened.”

In Dune: Prophecy, Watson plays the Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit Sisters, Valya Harkonnen, whilst Williams plays her younger sibling, Sister Tula Harkonnen.

Watson, who recently starred alongside Oscar winner Cillian Murphy in Small Things Like These, says it feels wonderful to be given the freedom to portray strong, stoic characters.

“When we were first cast, we went and sat in the National Portrait Gallery and sat in front of portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, Bloody Mary, and just thought about that time when those very powerful women were front and centre, and terrified and deeply paranoid because everybody wanted to either marry them or kill them.”

The two actresses first met outside the Black Swan pub in Stratford-upon-Avon when they were starting out in their careers with the nearby RSC.

Williams says it “doesn’t feel real” that their careers have become as successful as they have.

“It is an extraordinary thing that I said I would stop at 30 and go and try to be a lawyer. I didn’t intend to be working as an actor and now I can’t believe my luck.

“You get to the end of every job and you go, was that the last time I will act? And that is a really tough way to, you know, bring up a family and you can’t get a bloody mortgage or life insurance with a lifestyle like that. So anyway, that was my real-life whinge.”

Watson said the experience of leading a big-budget series together was not lost on her, and she felt an onus to help create a positive environment for the younger actors.

“We were like the CEOs and we were making sure that everybody was seen and felt part of something and were feeling okay about how everything was going down. And it felt like a really healthy way to do it.”

Dune: Prophecy is available to watch on Sky Atlantic and Now

Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs attempting to obstruct justice from jail, prosecutors say

Published

12 hours ago

November 18, 2024

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs attempting to obstruct justice from jail, prosecutors say

Sean “Diddy” Combs has attempted to contact prospective witnesses from jail in a bid to sway public opinion ahead of his upcoming sex trafficking trial, prosecutors have claimed.

The accusations were made in a Manhattan federal court filing in which the prosecution opposes the 55-year-old rapper‘s latest $50m (£39m) bail proposal. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.

Combs pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with the aid of a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

He says his sexual relationships were consensual, and strenuously denies all wrongdoing.

In the latest step of the ongoing case, prosecutors say a review of recorded jail calls made by Combs shows he has asked family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and has urged them to create “narratives” to influence the jury pool.

They say he has also encouraged marketing strategies to influence public opinion.

The filing said: “The defendant has shown repeatedly – even while in custody – that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case.

“The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to abide by rules or conditions.”

Prosecutors wrote that it could be inferred from his behaviour that Combs wants to blackmail victims and witnesses into silence or into providing testimony helpful to his defence.

Read more: What is Sean Combs charged with?

It is alleged that Combs began breaking rules almost as soon as he was detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York City, after his arrest in September.

Two judges have concluded he is a danger to the community and at risk of fleeing, rejecting two previous bail requests.

In Combs’s latest request, his lawyers cited changed circumstances, including new evidence, which they said made it sensible to release him ahead of his trial next year.

But prosecutors said defence lawyers created their latest bail proposal using some evidence prosecutors turned over to them, and the new material was already known to defence lawyers when they made previous bail applications.

In their submission to a judge, prosecutors said Combs’s behaviour in jail shows he must remain locked up.

They cited examples including Combs enlisting family members to plan and carry out a social media campaign around his birthday earlier this month, “with the intention of influencing the potential jury in this criminal proceeding”.

They say he encouraged his seven children to post a video to their social media accounts showing them gathered to celebrate his birthday.

Afterwards, they say he allegedly monitored the analytics, including audience engagement, from inside the jail and “explicitly discussed with his family how to ensure that the video had his desired effect on potential jury members in this case”.

Prosecutors also alleged Combs made clear his intention to anonymously publish information that he thought would help his defence team.

“The defendant’s efforts to obstruct the integrity of this proceeding also includes relentless efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse who could provide powerful testimony against him,” they wrote.

Sky News has contacted Combs’s lawyer for comment.

Combs is currently in custody in Manhattan. His criminal trial is scheduled for 5 May 2025.

Entertainment

Davina McCall makes ‘enormous leap forward’ and is out of ICU after surgery to remove brain tumour

Published

21 hours ago

November 18, 2024

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Davina McCall makes 'enormous leap forward' and is out of ICU after surgery to remove brain tumour

Davina McCall has made an “enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours”, her partner has said on her Instagram.

In an update, her partner Michael Douglas, said: “Update folks. Thanks so much to all the well wishers. She really has made an enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours. She is out of ICU She is ‘loving awareness’. Thank you xx Michael.”

The post also featured a bright pink text image, which said, “massive relief to see some light breaking through,” followed by four heart emojis.

“Thanks for all the good vibes coming in from all angles. Up and up,” it added.

Friends and fellow celebrities were quick to comment on the update, with actress Patsy Palmer writing, “sending healing,” Dame Kelly Holmes commenting “awesome news Michael” and Jools Oliver adding three heart emojis.

The 57-year-old television presenter had revealed in a video posted on Instagram earlier on Friday she had a benign brain tumour, a colloid cyst, which she described as “very rare”.

Speaking in the short video ahead of her operation, McCall had explained to her followers the benign tumour was around 14mm wide and “needed to come out, because if it grows it would be bad” .

She said a surgeon would remove the cyst through the top of her head in a procedure called a craniotomy.

In her video post the former Big Brother host had said she was “in good spirits,” and would be in hospital “for around nine days” following the procedure.

According to the NHS, non-cancerous brain tumours are slow-growing and unlikely to spread, but are still serious and can be life-threatening.

McCall’s current partner, hairdresser Michael Douglas, is sharing updates from McCall’s account while she is recovering. This is his second update since her operation.

McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.

She’s gone on to present programmes across the networks, and currently presents ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad.

Last year, McCall was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.

In recent years, McCall has spoken regularly on women’s health and the effects of menopause in a bid to break taboos around the subject. Her 2022 book, Menopausing, won book of the year at the British Book Awards.

The same year, McCall fronted the Channel 4 documentary Davina McCall: Sex, Mind And The Menopause, and told the BBC that the perimenopausal symptoms caused her difficulties multi-tasking and she considered that she had a brain tumour or Alzheimer’s disease at the time.

Married twice, McCall has three children, two daughters and a son, with her second husband, presenter Matthew Robertson.

She has lived with Douglas since 2022, and they present a weekly lifestyle podcast together, Making The Cut.