It’s not that often that musicians cross over to public office yet, as the example of Sonny Bono shows, their audience-facing sensibilities allow artists to serve communities not only from the stage. The latest player to expand his expertise is a very concerned person: David Knopfler, a founding member of DIRE STRAITS, who is standing for election to Teignbridge Council, in Devon, England, tomorrow on May 4th. May the force be with him, then!
Guitarist David quit the ensemble during the recording of “Making Movies” in 1980 and left the band in the hands of his older brother Mark to begin a successful, if less prominent than that of his former group’s, solo career – but Knopfler is well-suited to be representing the South Devon Alliance on the ballot paper in the Ashburton and Buckfastleigh ward, as he is economics graduate and used to be a social worker, so the veteran is very much familiar with people’s needs.
“As a candidate,” – David Knopfler’s election material says, “my priority is ensuring the council is honest, accountable, and an effective democratic instrument in the public interest.” Of course, such service will not affect his art, and last year’s “Skating On The Lake” album will not be his last.
