Political Spin: Neale Hanvey MP

Neale Hanvey, Alba MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath...

What was the first record that you ever bought?

It was Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet. It was for my birthday, and I got my dad to go to the shops to get it for me. I remember it very clearly. It didn't have a picture sleeve, it had the old green and orange RCA paper sleeve with a hole cut out in the middle, and a bright orange label.

What record will always get you on the dance floor?

Oh gosh, very little will get me on the dancefloor these days! I don't frequent dancefloors or anything like it. Anything that's kind of upbeat, happy. I think the last thing I danced to was at the LGB Alliance conference and it was Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite.

Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

I do. I haven't sung it for many, many years, and I think the last time I sang it, it didn't go quite as well as I planned. Me and Mrs. Jones is my karaoke song. I've always really loved that sound of Philadelphia music, Billy Paul is just a tremendous singer. It’s a great song, from that massively powerful belting out in the chorus and then really subtle and soft verses. And it's a nice story, I like the story; it's a beautiful song, beautifully written.

Do you rate yourself as a singer?

[laughs] No, not now. As you get older, your voice… now I listen to myself sing, trying to hit notes that I used to be able to hit many years ago, and my voice just either isn't there or it cracks. I've been a fair singer in my day, you know, I used to sing in bands, both the backing vocalist and lead vocalist depending on which band it was, so I've done my share. I've had the pleasure of working with some fantastic vocalists. Not anybody you would know, but a woman called Karen McIntosh was in a band and in a duo with me and she had, I think, one of the most unique and beautiful voices I've ever heard. It’s a shame that more people didn't hear it.

Do you get much time to compose these days?

No. It's one of those things that keeps me going, I keep thinking ‘this weekend, I'm going to spend a couple hours in my office’ – my office is kind of like a studio, I've got my synth stuff set up there – so I tease myself that I'm going to do that, but then I sit down at the computer and I end up just getting stuck in about emails and various other things. Real life takes precedent. I console myself with the notion that when I've retired, I'll have time to pootle about and enjoy myself. I do use them from time to time and it is really relaxing. It's a great way to just get your head completely out of the political world.

Did you have a first dance at your civil partnership ceremony?

I don't think we did, actually. We didn’t do that bit, but we’ve got a couple of songs from our early days. One is Crazy For You – Madonna, which is the cheesy one. And then the other one, which is probably much more meaningful to me, is Con Los Años Que Me Quedan by Gloria Estefan, from the Mi Tierra album, her first Spanish language longplayer. It was done with a nod to some of the more traditional bolero and stuff like that, it's an absolutely stunning album.

What record do you hate but can never get out your head?

Probably something like Saturday Night or that frog thing, Crazy Frog, I can't stand anything like that. That just drives me absolutely spare. I hate novelty music. Agadoo and all of that stuff, I just can't bear it.

What music would you always associate with your childhood?

I was a new-wavey punk person when I was younger, so I was into the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and all of that kind of stuff. I was a huge Blondie fan, loved Debbie Harry, thought she was amazing. And then I got into more independent-type music, so FireHouse and The Cure, I went to see them many, many times. Stranglers were another big band, been to see them loads of times. That was the music of my youth, really.

What was the last band you went to see?

The last band I went to see was Elbow and I went with my partner, the boys and one of their pals from school.

Do you go see live music a lot?

I did when I was younger, but beyond that, not really. We do have a festival happening in Kirkcaldy in the next few months, at the Esplanade, called Breakout. I'm a judge on the Battle of the Bands panel, so I'm going to have to be out listening to bands very shortly.