Politics and music have long gone hand in hand. Why, on the home front we’ve seen Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil have a lengthy stint as an MP, and most recently, Anthony Albanese has been one of the ambassadors for Record Store Day 2017. But today, a British MP has used her speech in the House Of Commons to quote English grime superstar Stormzy, and it wasn’t anywhere near as awkward as you’d expect.
Just a couple of days ago, news broke about Stormzy’s anger at being confused for a Belgian soccer player, but now, just a couple of days out from touching down in Australia for a run of shows, the English musician might be a bit happier with the fact his lyrics have been used in the House Of Commons.
Sarah Jones, a Labour MP for Stormzy’s hometown of Croydon, England, delivered her first speech in the House Of Commons today, deciding to use some of her electorate’s pride and joy to further the point. Speaking in regards to the hopes that her political party does not fail those who voted them in, Jones’ speech went over rather well. “If the election has taught us anything, it’s that we cannot take anyone for granted,” she said. “As Croydon’s Stormzy put so well in one of his songs: ‘You’re never too big for the boot’.”
New Labour MP for Croydon Central, Sarah Jones, quotes @stormzy1 in the Commons pic.twitter.com/GzCInSPjWn
— Esther Webber (@estwebber) July 12, 2017
Taking a line from Stormzy’s ‘Big For Your Boots’ off of his critically-acclaimed 2017 release Gang Signs & Prayer, Jones’ delivery was actually not bad. Lacking any sort of pretence or misdirected attempt to relate to a younger audience, Jones’ quote was a rather smooth reference to a musician from her electorate. Many other politicians could probably learn from her example.
While Stormzy is due to hit up our shores soon for Splendour In The Grass and a number of sold-out sideshows, we’re not too sure if he’ll convince any Aussie politicians to slip his lyrics into their speeches, but that remains to be seen.
Check out Stormzy’s ‘Big For Your Boots’ below.