The late prime minster, Winston Churchill, has reached number 4 in the album chart with an album featuring samples of his speeches, set to music by the Central Band of the RAF.

The Manic Street Preachers and Brandon Flowers can blame Winston Churchill for missing out on the top five position of the official UK album chart this week. The British wartime prime minister who is at No 4 is now vying for first place alongside, Phil Collins, Mark Ronson and The Script.

Reach for the Skies, released early last week, features samples of two of Churchill’s most famous speeches. They are sampled against the backing track of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.

The Official Charts Company echoed the thoughts of many, stating that it’s ‘great that to a long list of stars including Elvis, Madonna and the Beatles, we can now add Winston Churchill. It is also a tribute to the amazing sacrifice of our servicemen and women that the British public have brought this RAF album in such large numbers’.

Churchill and the RAF band beat off stiff completion including the Killers frontman, last week’s No 4, and the Manic Street Preachers who now sit at No 11 in the charts.