‘Concerned’ British music producers fly to US to campaign for Kamala Harris

Dan Glatman and Jon Cohen landed on Thursday in Pennsylvania, a battleground swing state, joining an army of volunteers knocking on doors and engaging with voters ahead of polling day on Tuesday.

The London-born pair have no vote or stake in the US election, but 52-year-old Mr Cohen told the PA news agency it was becoming impossible to overlook when the “stakes are so high”.

Mr Cohen, whose producing credits include Joss Stone and Leona Lewis, told PA: “We’re both just normal Brits, but with an eye on the state of the world it’s impossible to ignore the election here because it will obviously have such far-reaching consequences for everyone.

“And so we’ve been constantly following everything over the last few months and just feeling really strongly that just standing by and watching it happen didn’t really feel right.

“We both felt the need to come over here and lend a hand. There are really strong laws around foreign interference in elections – you can’t send money, you can’t donate – but it’s absolutely fine to volunteer.

“So we just thought we’d get on a plane, come over here and knock on doors and just do whatever we can to lend a hand.”

Both fathers of young children, the pair described the election as a pivotal moment in history.

“To us, it doesn’t feel like an act of charity in any way whatsoever, because there’s no-one in the world who isn’t going to be affected by what happens tomorrow,” Mr Cohen said.

Mr Glatman, best known as the co-creator and manager of British boyband Blue, told PA: “We were just extremely concerned in the UK.

“We exist under the protection of the American defence umbrella, there’s a lot of rhetoric around that (but) ultimately, it’s the proximity of (Donald) Trump to (Vladimir) Putin that really, really terrifies us.

“That’s terrifying. It is clear where his loyalties lie,” he said, later adding: “The other thing for us is climate, Trump’s stance on climate denial fills us with horror.”

Mr Glatman spoke about the “phenomenal camaraderie” of volunteers “united with the same cause” as they all campaign for the Democratic Party.

“We are part of a team that is knocking 2,000 doors a minute, so to be part of this is a real privilege actually, and it’s a total and utter fantastic use of our time,” he said.

The 49-year-old also said that when their British accent has been noted on the doorstep “there’s been quite a lot of gratitude and it has been quite emotional”.

Mr Cohen told PA: “That sense of all being in it together and working hard together and knowing that you’re morally on the right side of things, it’s a fantastic feeling, but people are nervous – it is going to be close.

“The interesting thing is on the other side, we haven’t seen anyone canvassing the streets for Trump, not a single person, and we’ve walked hundreds of streets so far, not seen a single person knocking on doors for Trump.

“We want to feel positive, but the stakes are so high that everyone is also just a bit nervous, waiting to see what happens,” he said.

After the “terrible shock” of the 2016 election “there is not complacency” this time around, Mr Cohen said, adding: “No-one is taking anything for granted.”

During their days campaigning in Pennsylvania, the pair met governor Josh Shapiro, who was endorsing Anna Thomas running for state representative.

Reflecting on the people they had met during their trip, the pair said people are choosing to back Ms Harris following her pledge to support abortion rights after the 2022 Supreme Court decision that ended the constitutional right to abortion services.

“Yesterday we spoke to a grandmother who was saying, ‘I have to vote for my granddaughters, I have to protect their rights, I have to protect their freedoms, they’re under threat, that’s why I’m doing this, that’s why I’m voting for Kamala’,” Mr Glatman said.

“We had a bit of a moment, it was actually quite emotional, and it really made us realise just how lucky we are.

“I have got two teenage daughters, I feel an enormous amount of allyship with the women of America, as does Jon.

“The abortion issue over here is very, very real, we don’t realise how lucky we are in the UK.”

Ms Harris spent her final day before the election in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the electoral college outcome.