| MP4 Facts | Initially called MP3, the band formed in 2001 with three members:
Pete Wishart - keyboards;
Ian Cawsey - bass guitar and vox;
Greg Knight - drums.
They were later joined by Kevin Brennan on lead guitar and subsequently changed their name to reflect their late addition. Pete Wishart is best known as the keyboard player from the Gaelic rock band, Runrig. He was also in the original line-up of Big Country and played with the group for a year. He is the only MP to have appeared on Top of the Pops. Ian Cawsey has played in many local bands including Zebra, Chinese Whispers, Brix, Mandrake, Sneeky Feet and The Moggies. Other musical activities running in the Parliament include: The Parliament Choir and Lord Colwyn's Jazz Band. |
When the news broke at around 3 am on Friday 6th May that Greg Knight kept his Yorkshire East seat it was clear that Parliaments one and only rock band MP4, made up solely of Parliament members, would not find itself needing a new drummer or keyboard player. The Scottish Nationalist MP Pete Wishart cruised home in Tayside North and guitarist Kevin Brennan defended his Labour stronghold in Cardiff West meaning the band remains intact. "Given that we are of different political persuasions, I know that all of us on election night all looked very quickly for our fellow musicians' results to ensure that on Friday we would still be together and it was quite close." Said bass player Ian Cawsey. "In Pete Wishart's Scottish constituency there's a new boundary which made it much more difficult to gain seats for him. He squeezed through with just a majority of 1500 - I think, so we knew that would be the tight one and we were very pleased when that result came through."
 | | The only MP to appear on Top of The Pops |
The bands' venture to release a charity record later in the year can now continue as planned. "We've recorded four tracks so far and we may do some more." Said Ian, "we haven't come up with a date of when we'll release it but we're hoping it will be around the summer or autumn time." Ian continued: "We like the fact that we've been able to contribute with raising money for good courses and to raise awareness of some of the music industry issues in Parliament through our own Parliamentary band." "We're not expecting to be on Top of The Pops or to be selling Gold Disc albums but we like what we're doing now and we want to keep that going." A major record company is known to be interested in distributing the charity CD later this year. | 
