News : The “mysterious” PRESIDENT announce ‘Campaign Trail’ 2026 UK and Ireland tour

Laura Molloy July 29, 2025

The mysterious PRESIDENT has announced their ‘Campaign Trail’ 2026 UK and Ireland tour. See all the information below.

Little is known about the band, who got people talking after they were added to the list of artists set to perform at this year’s Download Festival. At the time of the announcement, they had no music released, had never posted before online, and had not shared any information about their members.

Since then, they made their debut at the festival and have released two songs on streaming platforms. Following a teaser in April, debut single ‘In The Name Of The Father’ arrived in May, with follow-up ‘Fearless’ landing in June. The songs are taken from the upcoming EP ‘King of Terrors’ set for release on September 26 (pre-save here).

Now, they’ve announced their debut headline UK and Ireland tour, set to kick off in Dublin on April 12, 2026. Coined the ‘Campaign Trail’, the string of shows will see them head to Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol and Norwich throughout the month, before a final show at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town on April 21.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday (August 1), and you’ll be able to get yours here. See a full list of dates and venues further below.

Per a press release, the shows mark “a pivotal moment in the movement, calling citizens across the country to stand united beneath the banner of belief, volume, and resistance.”

“We never set out to lead. But when enough people walk beside you, it becomes a march,” a statement says. “The Campaign Trail is for everyone whoʼs felt something stir inside them. Now is the time to raise your voice.”

APRIL
12 – Academy, Dublin, Ireland
14 – O2 Ritz, Manchester, United Kingdom
15 – SWG3 TV Studio, Glasgow, United Kingdom
17 – Project House, Leeds, United Kingdom
18 – Electric Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
20 – UEA, Norwich, United Kingdom
21 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom

Although no one knows who the members of the group are, some fans are convinced that the frontman is Charlie Simpson. Following early speculation that the Busted and Fightstar musician might be part of the project, some were then “10000% convinced” without “any doubt” that it’s Simpson after the Download appearance.

We also previously spoke to Charlie Simpson at the end of 2024 about his role in Jeff Wayne’s musical adaption of The War Of The Worlds.

Though he didn’t speak about his connection with PRESIDENT, Simpson did confirm he was working on new music. “There are [plans for new music]!”, he told us. “Busted are working on new music at the moment and we’ve just been out in LA doing some stuff. It’s a slow process, but we want the next record that Busted put out to be an important one. We don’t want to rush it,” he said. “There’s a bunch of songs written already, and hopefully they’ll come out next year, maybe even the year after.”

“For Fightstar it’s a case of getting everyone into the same orbit,” he added. “Doing that show this year was great because we got together and made a set that we wanted to celebrate the 20 years with. Committing to a full album is obviously a much bigger deal because it takes a lot more time. But I definitely want to do stuff with them again in the future, 100 per cent. I just don’t know when.”