'We're going into a dark place': Brit awards artists warn over Reform UK's rise

Artists including CMAT, Wet Leg, Loyle Carner, Wolf Alice and Self Esteem used the Brit awards red carpet to warn about the rise of Reform UK and to insist that artists should feel empowered to be political. CMAT said she was 'not a big fan of anyone trying to argue that art is not a political place', adding 'everything is politics' and that 'you don't get to make art in a fascist state'.

She criticised Wim Wenders's suggestion that cinema should 'stay out of politics', calling it 'cowardice' and saying successful artists had 'wiped their hands clean' of ordinary and oppressed people. Wolf Alice bassist Theo Ellis said musicians 'have the power to expose people to information they might not have got somewhere else', and argued that artists were stepping in after some major news outlets 'over the course of 2025 particularly were downplaying things'.

United Kingdom

brit awards, reform uk, cmat, wet leg, loyle carner, wolf alice, self esteem, theo ellis, wim wenders, art politics