A very strained relationship: Why politics and music don't mix

From Thom Yorke threatening to sue David Cameron to Obit Lembit's peculiar relationship with Cheeky Girl Gabriela Irimia

As Liberal Democrat junior transport minister Norman Baker prepares to release his new single “Piccadilly Circus”, we look back on the strained relationship between politics and music.

Whether it’s Tony Blair trying to be “down with the kids” by claiming to listen to The Foo Fighters, or John Prescott having water thrown over him by Chumbawamba at the Brit awards- it seems both groups use music for political means.

The Conservatives played Keane’s song “Everybody’s Changing” at the launch of their manifesto in 2010- a choice similar to Labour’s 1997 election song “Things Can Only Get Better”- but were quickly shot down by the band’s drummer for doing so.

Then there are the strained romantic relationships between MPs and musicians- take the classic example of Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik dating Transylvanian Cheeky Girl Gabriele Irimia: strained, and strange.

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