Dave Rowntree is not "ready" to give up his place in Blur to pursue his political career

He told the Guardian newspaper: "Well, if I contested a seat I could actually win, I'd have to give up being in Blur and I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to do that.

"It's not the job it was, I think. But you could say that about most jobs these days, couldn't you? Being hated by 50 per cent of the people you represent is not a position that would sit easily with me."

When asked to give his most "controversial political opinion", Dave replied: "Oh no. I don't have controversial political opinions.

"You don't get to run for office if you have those in the Labour party! They get beaten out of you at an early stage, along with your entire social media history."

Dave previously stood as a Labour candidate in the constituency of Mid Sussex at the UK's general election last year and in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency when the country went to the polls in 2010.

Speaking prior to the 2024 election, Dave admitted he would have to walk away from the band that made him famous if he was to win.

He told The Times magazine: "If I'm a full-time MP, I'm a full-time MP. I won't be taking time off to do a world tour with Blur."

When asked why he decided to swap music for politics, Dave insisted he wants to give back because so many years in a bad was turning him into a "rather odd person".

He told the publication: "It [being in a band] can be a recipe for becoming a very unpleasant person. The more successful you get, the more isolated you become from the real world, because everything is secondary to the gig you have just sold 10,000 tickets for.

"That leads to you being increasingly mollycoddled, which is dangerous if there is nobody to keep you grounded. After a while, I realised I would never be happy unless I could be helpful to others in a practical sense ...

"It turned out, as I started becoming this rather odd person the music industry can make you, that one of the things I was missing in life was looking people in the eye and trying to help them deal with their problems. I think it is a fundamental need of humanity. Once I discovered it, I never looked back."

Dave went on to admit he's made plenty of mistakes during his time in the band, but he hoped voters would appreciate him as a candidate with life experience.

He added: "I've made some catastrophic mistakes. I'm also not someone who studied politics at university, worked their way up to being a special adviser and was parachuted into a safe seat.

"So I'll say, 'Do people want members of parliament to have some life experience or not?' I've done a whole other job. I don't think that's a bad thing."