When the Labour Party defeated the Conservative Party in U.K.’s 1997 general election, there was a rumor that Phil Collins had publicly promised to move to Switzerland, fearing the Labour government’s tax policies on the rich. And, whether he was a fan of the Tories or not, the singer did actually leave England after the election and people just assumed that the rumor was right.
One of those people who assumed the hearsay right was none other than Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, and when the 2005 general election was coming up, he decided to publicly mock Collins, saying:
“Vote Labour: if you don’t and the Tories get in, [Collins] is threatening to come back from Switzerland, and none of us want that.”
This wasn’t the first time Gallagher had slammed Phil, but these comments would bring out one of the Genesis frontman’s rare exclusive public responses to Noel.
During a chat with the Times in 2008, the ‘In the Air Tonight’ singer specifically addressed why Noel’s assumption about him sympathizing with Tories bothered him:
“I don’t care if he likes my music or not. I do care if he starts telling people I’m a w***er because of my politics. It’s an opinion based on an old misunderstood quote.”
The ‘misunderstood quote’ Collins referred to was none other than his public promise to leave the U.K. if a Labour government ruled the parliament. However, in a later interview in 2016 with the Independent, Phil clarified once again that he wasn’t a Conservative while claiming he had moved to Switzerland in the late 90s due to a woman he was seeing.
