M People founder Mike Pickering has voiced his upset after Liz Truss used one of the group’s biggest hits as her entrance music at the Tory Party Conference.
On Wednesday morning, the PM walked on stage in Birmingham to the soundtrack of Moving On Up, which bagged M People a number two hit in 1993.
Following this, Mike shared a statement on behalf of the band saying they were “livid” at Truss’ song choice.
“They are livid,” he explained in a statement to the PA news agency.
Pointing out that lead singer Heather Small’s son is a newly-appointed Labour councillor, he added: “[Truss] won’t be around to use it again for very long. I would imagine.
“I am absolutely gutted by it because they are killing the live touring of bands and artists… I am Mancunian and getting from Manchester to London these days is harder than getting on to continental Europe.”
Mike also noted that the band had contacted their lawyers, who advised there was little that could be done about Truss’ use of their music.
He added: “I was just looking at the lyrics. It’s amazing. I hope she takes note. It’s about, ‘Go and pack your bags and get out’.”
Pointing out that the song was repeatedly used by Tony Blair’s government, Mike concluded: “No one said to them ‘Tony Blair and New Labour used that song all the time’ or ‘Heather’s son is a Labour councillor’ or ‘Mike is really vociferous on Twitter and social media about being an anti-Tory’?
“I don’t know why they have used it. They are so useless at everything. Who knows?”
HuffPost UK has also contacted Heather Small’s representatives for comment.
While Heather herself is yet to comment, her son, Labour councillor James Small-Edwards, did poke fun at the song choice on social media.
“An apt choice!” he tweeted. “This tired and out of touch Tory government is indeed moving on out.”
Truss was faced with a muted response and even some empty seats as she took to the stage for her maiden conference speech as prime minister.
The speech was gatecrashed by two Greenpeace activists who unfurled a banner saying “who voted for this?”.
