Liberal Democrat Rob Castell thought he would be standing against Dominic Grieve in Beaconsfield. However, he stood aside when the election was announced. Dominic Grieve has been an important pro-Remain voice in the Commons, crucial to stopping Brexit. He is standing as an independent and the Liberal Democrats locally and nationally agreed not to oppose him.

Rob has been campaigning with Dominic Grieve, who is picking up much unexpected support.

Rob’s generosity in standing aside is clear. He has been a great and positive presence on social media during the campaign, though. Recently, he was put in touch with the producers of Politix and Chill, a new BBC Sussex podcast for young people. They asked him to write and record a rap about politics. Two others, from the Conservatives and Labour, were also invited to do so and they were judged by talent scouts.

Rob told me that it was a great experience and he hopes it will make politics more accessible for young people.

Watch it here.

Three politicians… One rap battle 🔥 This is Fire in the Polling Booth 🎙 #BBCPolitix @BBCSounds @BBCPolitics @_robcastell @GoLocalVoteJoe @BellaSankey pic.twitter.com/LxZYREAzzT

— BBC Sussex (@BBCSussex) December 5, 2019

The words to Rob’s rap are below:

Yes yes I’m a Lib Dem only been a couple of years since I was with them but then

It was never gonna be an easy ride against Dominic Grieve so I stood aside

I can’t hide from the fact that I’m happy to make an election pact and get my country back

From the twisted logic of Brexit And I’m fighting for the country before Boris wrecks it

… I put my country first, and splitting the vote would make matters worse

So it’s a proper remain alliance we’re a team of giants with a spirit of defiance

Lib Dems and an independent, it’s me and DG and we’re in the ascendant

So until proportional representation I say screw the system and save the nation

So what’s the Lib Dem story? According to Labour we’re yellow tories

Sure it’s just harmless fun, how many seats have labour stood down in? None

But we’re willing to sacrifice seats for the greater good against bigger defeats

Do we have a manifesto? Yes and it’s got the green light from the IFS

Unlike Corbyn’s or Johnson’s plan, speaking of Boris, who is that man?

Get Brexit Done? Can it be true? Newsflash: He’s lying to you

It shouldn’t be another binary choice, the people to deserve to hear another voice

We got sensible plans for taxation, ambitions for spending in education

Climate change, mental health, justice reform, generating wealth as the

Party of business to make the pot grow (we’ll also let you grow pot you know)

All identities welcome here, no rabbis or muslims living in fear

If you love Brexit we won’t suit you, but we’re the ones building a brighter future

And, in a very different genre, Rob looks to Love Actually to inspire him for this week.

https://twitter.com/_robcastell/status/1203968264411459584?s=20