Kate Bush has written a statement to clarify she does not support the Conservative party, two years after causing uproar by expressing her admiration for Theresa May.
Writing on her website, the singer said a quote in an interview with Canadian magazine Maclean’s was taken “out of context… it seemed as if the focus went on to the quote rather than the work. It was deeply frustrating.”
Bush was answering a question about former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the “fear of women’s power” when she commented: “We have a female prime minister here in the UK. I actually really like her and think she’s wonderful. I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time. She’s a very intelligent woman but I don’t see much to fear.
“I will say it is great to have a woman in charge of the country. She’s very sensible and I think that’s a good thing at this point in time.”
At the time, the remark caused upset among many of Bush’s more liberal fans, with some going so far as to renounce her.
Bush explained that at the time she had decided not to clarify what she meant at the time the interview was published. However, she was prompted to after the quote was brought up again in articles about her recently remastered back catalogue, and a book of her lyrics published by Faber in December.
“My response to the interviewer was not meant to be political but rather was in the defence of women in power,” she continued in the statement on her website. “I felt he was putting a really negative slant on powerful women, referring to a witch hunt involving Hillary Clinton. In response I said that we had a woman in charge of our country, and that I felt it was a good thing to have women in power.
“I should have been clearer when I then said it was the best thing that had happened to us for a long time – because I greatly disliked the behaviour of the previous PM [David Cameron], who at that point I felt had abandoned us and everybody felt angry and let down.”
