Was Syd Barrett a Tory?

Last month I found myself at the Barbican for a memorial concert to the great poet/troubadour of English psychedelic rock—Syd Barrett. Earlier in the day, Tony Blair had made his final announcement about his departure date.

Various figures from the bohemian fringes of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Mike Heron and Kevin Ayers, sang songs from Barrett’s Pink Floyd days or from his two haunting solo albums, produced after his mind had been irrevocably damaged by drugs. There were also more mainstream figures who had been influenced by Syd, such as Chrissie Hynde…