Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead fails to top charts

DING Dong The Witch Is Dead — the song propelled into the charts by opponents of Baroness Thatcher — failed to reach the No 1 spot in the official charts yesterday.

The song, from 1939 film The Wizard of Oz entered the UK charts at No 2, more than 5,000 sales short of this week’s chart-topper Need U (100 per cent) by Duke Dumont.

But, according to the Official Charts Company website, the song about the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West was the number 1 selling single in Scotland.

During the Radio 1 chart show, DJ Jameela Jamil said there was a “brand new entry at number two” before introducing Newsbeat music’s reporter.

Sinead Garvan explained the context of the single’s appearance in the charts to listeners of the station, which has a target audience of 15 to 29-year-olds.

Punk song I’m In Love With Margaret Thatcher by the Notsensibles, which was featured in recent film The Iron Lady, also entered the top 40 today.

The 1979 single reached number 35 after a push from fans of Lady Thatcher in response to Ding Dong The Witch is Dead and sold 8,768 copies.