Artists including CMAT, Wet Leg, Loyle Carner, Wolf Alice and Self Esteem voiced alarm over the rise of Reform UK on the Brit Awards red carpet, urging musicians to embrace political expression. The comments came as the ceremony in Manchester saw several nominees criticise the far-right party's growing influence.
CMAT, nominated for international artist of the year, said: 'Everything is politics. But more than ever, art is politics because you don't get to make art in a fascist state.' She dismissed calls for art to stay out of politics as 'cowardice', arguing that successful artists often become detached from the struggles of ordinary people.
Wolf Alice bassist Theo Ellis, whose band won group of the year, described the rise of Reform as 'shocking' and linked it to the Green party's victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Reform in second. 'It just shows how extreme times are,' he said. He also praised artists for speaking out on Gaza, saying legacy media had 'downplayed' the issue.
Wet Leg's Rhian Teasdale stated that 'to be apolitical is political', while guitarist Joshua Omead Mobaraki expressed hope following the Green win, calling new MP Hannah Spencer 'sick' and 'so cool'. Self Esteem, nominated for artist of the year, said: 'This country's getting scarier and scarier. I'm genuinely terrified that we're going into a dark place, darker than where we are already.' She urged voters to 'galvanise and fight' and ended with a jokey 'Vote Green'.
Loyle Carner, nominated in the hip-hop category, called the times 'scary' but sought to focus on hope: 'Instead of being negative all the time... try to find ways to express some sort of hope and generosity to the people like me who maybe feel marginalised.'
