Anti-Theresa May song 'Liar Liar' tops music charts

An anti-Tory song which dubs Theresa May a "liar" has reached number one on the iTunes download chart, but election impartiality rules mean it can't be played on the radio until after 8 June.

'Liar Liar GE2017' by the seven-piece band Captain Ska will also be the highest new entry to the UK Official Singles Chart this week, says Sky News.

The broadcaster says the Big Top 40 show on Heart and Capital FM has banned the song, despite its rise up the charts.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

YouTube

Watch On

The track samples parts of the Conservative leader's speeches and includes the chorus: "She's a liar liar, you can't trust her, no, no, no."

If it sounds familiar, that's because it's an edit of a 2010 track opposing the coalition government that reached number one in the UK reggae charts.

The first verse now goes:

We all know politicians like telling lies

Big ones, little ones, porky pies

Saying they're strong and stable won't disguise

We're still being taken for a ride

Nurses going hungry, schools in decline

I don't recognise this broken country of mine

They're having a laugh, let's show them the door then

Cut the rich, not the poor.

Captain Ska's members are session musicians who have worked with Vampire Weekend, Paloma Faith and The Streets.

Until election day, they are donating the proceeds from the song to food banks and the campaign group the People's Assembly Against Austerity.

The band said in a statement: "The success of this song shows people are fed up with this government of the rich, for the rich. We're overwhelmed with the support and our message is that people do have the power to change society if we act together."

Founder Jake Painter added: "[I'm] just so glad the musical message is resonating. [I] just want to kick the Tories out however possible.

"I've been in the industry for 15 years and Captain Ska is the result of my total frustration with the apathetic response to the most right-wing government in decades."