Rowntree: 'Cameron is Smiths tourist'

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has accused David Cameron of being a "Smiths tourist".

Rowntree, who is standing as a Labour candidate in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency next month, accused the Conservative leader of not being a real fan of the '80s indie legends.

"He's a Smiths tourist," he told The Guardian. "Real Smiths fans dress a certain kind of way, and they have a certain kind of haircut, and they wear certain kinds of T-shirts.

"But what they probably don't do is have their picture taken outside the Salford Lads Club."

However, the Britpop star also blasted form Labour leader Tony Blair for his dealings with musicians during the '90s, when he invited popular acts to join him at Number 10.

"What got my goat about Tony Blair inviting all the bands to Number 10 was that that was the standard way politicians had interacted with musicians for generations," he said.

"It was like when Harold Wilson called The Beatles round. What happens at those things is not that the politicians say, 'Well, what do you think we should be doing?'. Politicians say, 'We're going to be doing this. Will you support us?'. And nobody likes to feel taken for granted like that."

Rowntree said that he did not expect to win a parliamentary seat, but claimed that he enjoyed being an "activist" at a "grassroots" level. "I go round knocking on doors trying to find problems to solve," he said.