Jarvis Cocker has criticised the Prime Minister and said it is “necessary” for a Conservative government to return to power in the UK.

The singer, who now lives in Paris, made the comments during an interview with GQ about the credit crunch.

Cocker said he found it “difficult” to discuss the current political climate in the UK, but admitted: “It's all a bit lame, isn't it?"

He said he couldn’t understand why British government was trying to save “a banking system that obviously doesn’t work”.

The former Pulp frontman, who described Gordon Brown’s actions as a “mockery”, added: “Why don't they say, 'Well, sod that, let's do something else?'"

Cocker is understood to have been a Labour supporter during the 1990s – a period when both the party and British music enjoyed a renaissance.

But he said it was now time for a change of power at the head of British politics.

"A Conservative government is necessary," he said. "There is no credible alternative. You can sense an era passing."

(by Jason Gregory)