So far in the campaign David Cameron has been accompanied by Sir Michael Caine and Gary Barlow at events, the age of celebrity endorsement of the political parties remains very much with us.
Although the stars’ support is not unqualified, and things can sometimes go awry (such as when Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane came out for Scottish independence while sharing a platform with Labour’s Donald Dewar), the short-term cultural clout of celebrities can be important. We cite here some of the best-known associations of recent years, and some that ended in tears…
1. David Tennant
Whenever he finds himself on the verge of death, veteran time traveller Dr Who performs a cunning trick called ‘regeneration’ and returns to rude health, a condition he usually enjoys for around four to five years. In the hope that some of this death-defying Time Lord sorcery will rub off, Labour’s latest campaign video stars Sean Pertwee – son of third doctor Jon – and features a pleading voiceover from David Tennant, the recently departed tenth Doctor.
“I think David Cameron is a terrifying prospect,” commented Tennant earlier this year. For a man who has defeated the Cybermen, Davros, the Sontarans, the Slitheen and, more than once, the dreaded emotion-free power-hungry Daleks, this is serious stuff.
2. Ian Botham
Charity always comes first for Sir Ian Botham, but on the quiet, this one-time cricketing legend is a long-serving supporter of the Conservative Party. As a friend of the photo opportunity – a tour of the internet reveals an astonishing range of frolic-filled Botham imagery – Sir Ian was unable to resist inviting along Tory leader David Cameron, and an army of snappers, to join him on a recent charity walk. When asked about the election, Botham answered with a, er, typically straight bat. “We’ll wait and see on that. David knows what my views are but this is not about politics, it’s about leukaemia,” is the Botham line, but no-one is in any doubt that he’s Tory through and through.
3. Sean Connery
For the best part of a decade this one-time James Bond has proclaimed his support for an independent Scotland from his tax-exiled residence in the Bahamas. Connery, who has sported a ‘Scotland Forever’ tattoo since his pre-acting days in the Royal Navy, is a regular donor to the Scottish National Party and has vowed only to return to Scotland once independence has been granted – an act he believes he will witness in his lifetime. Until then Sir Sean, who was knighted by the Queen in 1999, remains a distant cheerleader.
4. Lily Allen
Tory leader David Cameron made an enemy of popstress Lily Allen after he banned his daughter Nancy from listening to Allen’s music. Despite Cameron Sr’s fairly reasonable assumption that Allen’s more graphic work was a little too much for Nancy, the singer was not amused. “I’m now thinking of calling the national bullying helpline following David Cameron’s hurtful comments,” she wrote on her Twitter page. “Of course, I’ll vote for Brown. I can’t not vote Labour.” At least six year-old Nancy won’t be making her feelings known at the ballot box.
5. Peter Stringfellow
A run-down of celebrity Conservative Party backers reads like the waiting list for a fast-tracking into light entertainment hell. Cilla Black, Ken Dodd, Paul Daniels, Jim Davidson, Anneka Rice and Chris Rea are just some of the names wooed by the party over the last decade or so, but since the enforced absence of faxing divorcer and occasional drummer Phil Collins, who vowed to leave the country if Labour won the 1997 election, the Tory glamour stakes are topped by nightclub owner and professional playboy Peter Stringfellow. The mulleted lothario has donated to the party, appeared at its annual conferences, and even managed to woo Margaret Thatcher into a visit to one of his haunts. Peter Stringfellow is said to be desperate for a knighthood.
6. John Cleese
It wasn’t just David Owen and Shirley Williams who deserted Labour for the Social Democratic Party in 1981 – former Python and Fawlty Towers proprietor John Cleese made the journey too. By 1987 he had starred in a stand-up themed political broadcast for the SDP-Liberal alliance; at the next general election in 1992 he was fully signed up to the Lib Dem cause; and in the interim he even starred in a video, talking voters through the attractiveness of the proportional representation voting system. He still pops up from time to time, but having shelled out £12m following his third divorce, Cleese’s cash is unlikely to be pumped into the Lib Dem coffers any time soon.
7. Daniel Radcliffe
Rapidly outflanking the likes of John Cleese, Floella Benjamin and Sandi Toksvig as the top Lib Dem celebrity endorser is Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. The party seized on an interview given by Radcliffe earlier this year, in which he dismissed both David Cameron and Gordon Brown, and proclaimed: “If all the people who liked the Lib Dems voted for them, you could change politics overnight and we could have a proper three-party system.” Nick Clegg was quickly on the phone, and did enough to leave Radcliffe cooing that the Lib Dem leader was “seriously impressive”. New York-based millionaire Radcliffe is now said to be advising the third party on how to get in touch with the average young voter.
8. J K Rowling
Having written the words that turned Radcliffe into a star, Harry Potter author J K Rowling must feel a sense of betrayal as she hears of the regular phone calls young Daniel enjoys with Nick Clegg. Rowling, whose personal fortune since penning the Potter series is estimated at around £560m, gave a well-timed gift of £1m to the Labour Party on the eve of its 2008 autumn conference. She cited the party’s policies to tackle child poverty and attacked Tory plans for tax breaks to married couples, prompting a gushingly grateful Gordon Brown to describe Rowling as one of the “world’s greatest ever authors”. With Labour’s debts nearly hitting £20m, Rowling might be asked to dig a little deeper into the Potter fund before long.
9. James Beattie
Professional footballers are an altruistic bunch. Pity poor Ashley Cole, left “trembling with anger” when told that he had been offered just £55,000 a week to play for Arsenal. Feel for his lovable England and Chelsea teammate John Terry and his need to accept, allegedly, £10,000 to give unofficial tours of the Chelsea training ground as he struggles by on a £160,000-a-week salary. And that’s at the top end of the league. How’s a man like Stoke City’s James Beattie expected to support his family with a weekly pay packet of around £50,000? Simple – vote Conservative. “I watched the Budget and obviously this tax hike is a big concern for me and other footballers. After everything that has happened with the economy we need a change of direction, so I’ll vote Tory,” Beattie commented after hearing about Labour’s 50p upper tax rate. Risking the wrath of footballers everywhere, at least he votes.
10. Eddie Izzard
It’s safe to say that James Beattie is unlikely to stand for office. In fact, it’s safe to say that none of this ten will – except, just perhaps, Eddie Izzard. Alastair Campbell, Labour’s former spin chief, certainly thinks he might. “I saw him as someone who had set out to be very good at comedy, and slowly achieved his goals, and who would more than likely take the same steady Eddie approach to politics, and get somewhere with it,” Campbell commented after witnessing one of Izzard’s rabble-rousing campus political talks. Izzard, a vocal Labour supporter, has also unveiled his plans to stand for “something” in ten years, either in “a Schwarzenegger place, where you actually hold power, or a Bob Geldof place, where you protest and organise”. Top ten stand-up comics to go into the House of Commons, anyone?
