Labour (Taylor’s Version): General election means a cruel summer for political Swifties
In case you missed the sequin-clad hordes riding the Metropolitan line, Taylor Swift was in town this weekend – and the capital put on its own show to welcome her. From themed brunches to a Taylor Swift Tube map, London did all it could to accommodate the pop star’s swathes of fans and, more importantly, their loose purse strings. With eight shows at Wembley Stadium, London will host more nights of the Eras Tour than any other city in the world and Swifties are expected to boost the London economy by £300m this summer.
But it’s not only the UK economy in need of help, with politicians also trying to get in on the action. Among the crowds at the show’s opening London night was Labour leader Keir Starmer, who posted a grinning picture of him and his wife at Wembley on Friday night, quipping he was on a “‘Swift’ campaign stop”. Meanwhile London mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled a mural of Taylor Swift’s face on the stairs on Wembley while showing off his new friendship bracelets gifted by fans. Khan has previously pronounced himself a “proud Swiftie”, though struggled to name a Taylor Swift album. “The era I like the best are Labour eras,” the mayor said when pressed. Likewise, Starmer singled out ‘Change’ as his favourite song from the artist.
Rishi Sunak was conspicuously absent from the shows this weekend, though he was rumoured to have attended the tour (along with a Swift-themed Soul Cycle class) in California last summer and has previously cited a love of Ms Swift as one of his few shared traits with known Swiftie Liz Truss.
For Swift herself, 2018 marked the start of her (brief) political era, with an Instagram endorsement of Tennessee Democratic politicians Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper, though the pop star has largely remained intentionally quiet on politics since. Her own fan base tends to lean left, with approximately 50 per cent of US Swifties Democratic, 23 per cent Republican and 23 per cent independent. Republicans used to be more supportive, but a recent Maga conspiracy about her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelve has seen her fall out of favour with Trump supporters.