Dave Rowntree, the drummer in the band Blur, is to stand for Labour at the next general election.

The 43-year-old, a long-standing member of the Labour Party, has been selected to fight the seat of Cities of London and Westminster.

Mr Rowntree failed to become a London councillor last summer during a by-election in Marylebone.

His opponent will be the sitting MP, Mark Field, a former Tory frontbencher who retained the seat with an 8,095 majority in 2005.

Mr Rowntree, who owns an animation company, accused Mr Field of failing to speak up for the poor in the constituency. He added that encouraging the greater involvement of young people in politics would be high on his list of priorities if he were elected.

“We are about to have a whole generation of non-voters,” he said.

Mr Rowntree also said that there were too many MPs and suggested that their number be cut by a third.

Last year he admitted fighting a cocaine adddiction in the 1990s, and urged the government to rethink its anti-drugs strategy.

Times Recommends

• Sarah Brown says 'no thanks' to veal at G8 - twice
• Stockton-on-Tees is obesity capital of Britain
• Stores blame poor sales on Murray factor