Nicola Blackwood

The Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon is a trained opera singer. She fulfilled her promise to sing live on BBC Oxford radio, after a close victory over the Lib Dem incumbent at the 2010 general election.

John Hemming

A former drummer in a heavy metal rock group, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley also founded his own record company, Music Mercia International (MMI), in 1997. He plays jazz piano and is a member of the Musicians’ Union.

William Hague


The foreign secretary taught himself to play the piano shortly after stepping down as Conservative Party leader in 2001, with a repertoire that includes Mozart, Bach and Chopin. He’s currently under a self-moratorium from playing while serving on the frontbench.

Parliament choir  


Founded in 2000 after a discussion between Lord Filkin and Simon Over (then director of music at St Margaret’s Westminster), the choir gave its first concert in Westminster Hall. It has also performed in Coventry Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral. It currently has around 100 members, who rehearse weekly.

Mike Weatherley

The MP for Hove and Portslade can often be found at rock and heavy metal concerts, and is renowned for his House of Rock show on Radio Reverb. He also founded the parliamentary competition ‘Rock the House’ in 2010, to find the country’s best unsigned band.

Edward Heath

The former PM, who won an organ scholarship to Balliol, Oxford University, was an accomplished pianist and conductor. He installed a Steinway Grand in 10 Downing Street, conducted the London Symphony and English Chamber Orchestras, and, in 1989, recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

Dave Rowntree

Best known as the drummer from Britpop band Blur, he has been a member of the Labour Party since 2002, chairing London’s West End branch. He unsuccessfully contested  the Cities of London and Westminster constituency at the 2010 general election, coming second.

Ken Clarke

The justice secretary is a jazz enthusiast who first discovered his passion in the clubs of Nottingham. A regular at Ronnie Scott’s, he has presented several jazz programmes on BBC Radio Four and has endorsed the BBC Jazz Awards. He doesn’t play an instrument himself.

MP4

This parliamentary rock band was founded in 2004 as MP3 by Pete Wishart (SNP), Ian Cawsey (Labour) and Greg Knight (Conservative). They were later joined by Kevin Brennan from Labour. They released their first full album, Cross Party, in April 2010 and became the first rock group to play at the Palace of Westminster when they performed a sell-out concert on the terrace of the House of Commons

Tony Blair

During his time studying law at Oxford, the former prime minister was a founding member of 1970s’ rock band Ugly Rumours. The group – it got its name from cover graphics on the Grateful Dead album From The Mars Hotel – disbanded after playing six gigs.