Blur's drummer Dave Rowntree has been selected as Labour candidate for general election

Yesterday evening, the Labour party announced that Dave Rowntree will stand in Mid Sussex, which includes Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the Mid Sussex villages. The constituency has been held by the Mims Davies of the Conservative Party, since 2019.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to become Labour’s first Mid Sussex MP," Rowntree said in a statement on his socials, announcing the news. “Residents have their best chance in a generation to make their vote count and return a Labour MP to parliament. The Tories have run out of ideas, and the Lib Dems have run out of steam," he said in another statement. “I’m running for parliament to provide the energy and vision the area so desperately needs.”

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Rowntree previously represented the party during his four years as a Norfolk County councillor. He announced in 2021 he was standing down from his role due to thepandemic and the Conservative government’s handling of lockdown policies. “The pandemic has made life very difficult for everyone. Like many people, I live with a vulnerable family member so I have had to spend much of the year shielding,’’ Rowntree said at the time.