Dawn Butler parodies ‘21 Seconds’ in ‘brilliant’ election campaign video

Dawn Butler, the Labour candidate for Brent East (previously Brent Central before the boundary changes), has made some pretty bold moves in the past – from being ordered out of the Commons for calling Boris Johnson a “liar”, to arguing a white home secretary wouldn’t have been able to say the things Suella Braverman had said while in post – and now she’s giving her own spin on a classic garage track while on the campaign trail.

Butler’s love of music is well-documented, too, as she’s thrown Jamaican parties which have proven popular at Labour Party conference, and in 2021 she appeared on an episode of Channel 4’s The Big Narstie Show and gave a freestyle rap on the spot.

“London girl, to Brent MP / Now I’m here, with Lily C [Collins] / My parties are sick, I’m just being honest / If you don’t wanna come, you’re a liar like Boris,” she said.

While she was kicked out of the Commons for a similar comment in 2021, the whole Partygate scandal resulted in Johnson being found by a parliamentary committee to have misled MPs about parties in Downing Street while strict coronavirus measures were in place.

Two years later, Butler called for the record of her temporary expulsion to be updated to state her remarks about the former prime minister were “actually correct”.

Under parliamentary rules, MPs cannot call another member a ‘liar’ – they can only allege that an individual ‘inadvertently misled’ the House.

“They tell a lie, they sit down, they have a goofy grin on their face, then they walk out and they never come back to correct the record. And that is a problem for our democracy. And this House must be able to call truth to power,” she said last year.

Now, as she stands for re-election on 4 July, she’s followed up on her 2021 Big Narstie Show rap with her own spin on So Solid Crew’s 2001 track, “21 Seconds”.

She raps: “We got 21 days to go / We got 21 days to go / If you like let me know / let me out the shadow / We got 21 days before they got to go.

“So Rishi at D-Day / Where did he go? / Like don’t let a liar run the show.

“21 days to say who you like / 21 days to have your say / Tories won’t like me anyway / But I won’t hesitate.

“’Cause Labour Party are here to stay / We’re going to the very top / The Tories / Their time is up / ‘Cause Tories / They’re too corrupt.

“Vote Dawn Butler / On the 4th of July / For Brent East.”

The video also features Lesbian Visibility Week founder and LGBT+ campaigner Linda Riley.

And then, just to cover herself, Butler clarifies: “OK, allegedly corrupt – can’t afford to get sued.”

After the video was shared to social media on Thursday morning, social media users have praised the “brilliant” and “iconic” campaign video:

The full list of candidates for the Brent East seat are: