Bez: I Would Wear A Suit In The Commons
Bez tells Sky News he should be MP because he doesn't lie, has no skeletons in his closet and would wear a suit in Parliament.
Tuesday 24 March 2015 13:27, UK
A man who has made, and lost, fortunes on the back of dancing - badly - and who once dripped LSD into a cut after falling off stage hardly smacks of MP material.
It's not exactly a first in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford, which is generally assumed to lay the ground work for most modern political careers.
Bez, the shaker of maracas and shape-thrower from Manchester band the Happy Mondays, is standing for MP in the seat of Salford and Eccles on an anti-fracking ticket.
So what makes him ideal MP material?
"Who is good MP material? At least I've got no skeletons in my cupboard. With me what you see is what you get. I don't tell no lies, I tell the truth and I am involved with no major cover-ups. I don't fiddle with kids. I'm a good 'un," he tells Sky News.
The 51-year-old is still a member of the band Black Grape, formed with Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder after the Happy Mondays split, but is now as likely to be found gardening on the rooftops of Manchester.
Sky News caught up with him on the roof of the Print Works building where he volunteers his time as part of a permaculture project. The small plot has chickens, fruit and vegetable beds and a wildflower meadow.
The pop star says he got into farming after "looking for an alternative way of life" and says it all started from his love of bees.
He launched his Reality Party a year ago after becoming "outraged" over local plans for fracking, but very nearly didn't make it on to ballot papers after forgetting to register his party with the Electoral Commission on time.
He says: "The thought that they was actually going to do it [frack] horrified me and it spurred me into action and I decided that I was going to run for MP because I felt like we could actually do something about it."
The environment, communities that can sustain themselves and the end of tax breaks for big business are among his policies; among his slogans "shake your maracas against the frackers".
He also believes in reform of the House of Lords, says MPs' expenses should not be cut and thinks people should be paid to grow their own.
And he will only wear a suit in the House of Commons if he has to, but isn't sure of the "dress code for the Houses of Parliament".
In an unpredictable election, Bez could just offer the protest vote people are looking for in a seat where the popular Labour MP Hazel Blears is standing down – she won in 2010 with a 5,725 majority.
He's also a fan of MPs being allowed to keep two jobs and has no intention of giving up his music career.
"At least my two jobs won't be a conflict of interest, unless I start booking gigs down at the Houses of Parliament."