Perthshire MP Pete Wishart has helped record a charity single for the Jo Cox Foundation, with hopes it could go to Christmas Number One.
The SNP politician has collaborated with fellow Westminster MPs, and musicians including KT Tunstall and Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson, to raise money for the foundation set up in the wake of Jo Cox’s murder.
Jo Cox was killed by far-right extremist Thomas Mair a week before the UK’s referendum on EU membership.
Mair, a white-supremacist obsessed with Nazi memorabilia and Apartheid-era South Africa, was sentenced to life in prison for murdering the MP for Batley and Spen.
The charity single, a cover of the Rolling Stones’ hit You Can’t Always Get What You Want, features vocals from 16 Westminster MPs, members of parliamentary band MP4 — who Mr Wishart plays keyboard for — Cockney Rebel’s Steve Harley and the Royal Opera House Thurrock Community Chorus.
Mr Wishart hopes the single will raise as much money as possible for the foundation, and said it had been a privilege to be asked to contribute.
“We were all knocked sideways by the tragic events surrounding Jo Cox’s death,” he said.
“It was a struggle to know how to respond in the first instance. I was privileged to be asked by the legendary record producer Robin Millar to come on board with my Parliamentary colleagues to record the music and vocals.
“I really hope that the public get behind the single so that we can raise as much money for the Jo Cox Foundation as possible. The fact that so many people have given up their time for this project to support the causes Jo cared about, shows that she leaves us all a legacy of hope for a better world.”
St Andrews singer KT Tunstall performs on the song, and said Jo Cox was an “incredibly bright light” and hoped the song would “bring people together”.
The single is released on December 16 and will compete for the coveted Christmas Number One chart position, which will be announced on Friday December 23.
Prior to his life as a politician, Pete Wishart MP played keyboards for cult Celtic-rock band Runrig.
