Christmas number one sees history made as song mocking Starmer misses out on UK top spot
The scathing anti-Keir Starmer Christmas track, Freezing this Christmas, has missed out on the UK’s festive top spot.
Wham’s Christmas classic, Last Christmas, has been placed as the festive number one for the second year running.
The 1984 tune by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley has once again beaten off Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and many other to top the Christmas chart.
Ridgeley, 61, commented he was “especially pleased” for the late Michael, who died in 2016 at the age of 53.
The singer had always wanted the song to reach number one.
“He would have been utterly delighted [that] his fabulous Christmas composition has become such a classic, almost as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, turkey and pigs in blankets,” Ridgeley stated.
He continued: “It’s testament to a really wonderful Christmas song that in a lot of people’s minds evokes and represents Christmas as we would all wish it to be.”
The Official Charts Company said the song had been streamed 12.6 million times in the week leading up to Christmas.
It comes as many had hoped the anti-Starmer Christmas song by Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers, a mock rendition of Mud’s Lonely This Christmas, would be placed at the top spot.
However, the political tune is currently sat in 37th place on the charts.
The song’s lyrics describe frustrations over the current Labour government, with lyrics such as “It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm.
“It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Oflficial Charts confirmed Last Christmas became the very first song ever to achieve two consecutive Christmas Number one victories.
The achievement marks the track’s 40th anniversary as the most-streamed song of the week.
Elsewhere, Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey, despite celebrating 30 years of All I Want for Christmas is You, has had to settle for the number three spot.
Martin Talbot, chief executive of Official Charts commented: “Many, many congratulations to Andrew Ridgeley and Team WHAM! on achieving an incredible piece of Official Chart history this week.
“It is incredible to think that four years ago Last Christmas was the biggest-selling single never to hit Number 1 – then it finally hit the top in January 2021, finally became a Christmas Number 1 in December 2023 and is now the first repeat Christmas Number 1 in history, with nine weeks at the summit (in five separate runs) to its name.
“It is surely, undeniably, established now as the British Nation’s all-time favourite Christmas song.
“Also, of course, we should all take our caps off to Sabrina Carpenter too, whose Short N’ Sweet album tops off what has been an incredible year for her to become the Official Christmas Number 1 album.”