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Rapper Drillminister has told NME that he’s running for Mayor of London to provide a voice that will represent everyone in the capital.
The South London musician is vying to secure the top job in City Hall, amid stiff competition from the likes of incumbent Mayor Sadiq Khan, Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey, former Tory MP Rory Stewart and Liberal Democrat hopeful Siobhan Benita.
But despite never stepping into politics before, the rapper insists that he’s far more representative of Londoners than his rivals ahead of the crunch vote in May.
“Nobody in this race is a realer Londoner than me,” he told NME.
“So I don’t see how as a Londoner, when it gets to the crunch, unless you’re worried about policy or making things continue as they are, why you wouldn’t vote for me. They’re not realistic candidates because they have political agendas. I haven’t got one.”
He has also promised to unveil a pioneering manifesto and says it will provide sweeping changes to the ways that transport, homelessness and mental health are tackled within the capital.
When it comes to homelessness, he says he will look into reclaiming abandoned buildings, as well as introducing a contactless card that will allow homeless Londoners to secure key resources.
LONDON isn’t going to fix itself it’s going to take all of us
— DrillMinister (@MinisterDrill) February 3, 2020
“I wanna look at abandoned buildings and government buildings that haven’t been claimed for a long time, renovating them into charities and safe spaces for minority groups, and people that are under threat, whether that’s LGBTQ backgrounds or people that don’t feel safe in their area. If you’re from an ethnic minority, or wearing a hijab and feeling under threat, you can go there and feel safe,” he said.
He also claimed that introducing a contactless card for homeless people will encourage further donations from the public.
“There’s a lot of people not wanting to give money to people in vulnerable situations. To enable people to have that safety in their own heart, and to know they’re doing a good deed, we’ll have a card where people can use it to get essential goods – whether that’s toilet paper, sanitary towels, food and drink.
“Just standard things that a bank card can do, and that will allow them to manoeuvre around the city.”
But if he emerges triumphant in May, will we finally see the man behind the recognisable gold glasses and balaclava? Don’t count on it.
“That’s not what the people want! The people don’t want the politics they saw in 2018 and 2019, they want Donald Trump politics. The biggest reality celebrity becomes the leading politician in the world. Right now, we need England to revolutionise politics. It has to have a shake-up, and I’m just here to give it a shake-up.”
You can watch NME’s entire interview with Drillminister above.
The post Drillminister tells NME why he’s running for Mayor of London: “I’m here to shake up politics” appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
