London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jul 25, 2025

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sees Southampton relegated from Premier League

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sees Southampton relegated from Premier League

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was an unhappy onlooker as his football club Southampton suffered relegation

With his party coming off heavy losses in the local elections, he may have been hoping for some good news as he took his seat at St Mary's Stadium.

However, sitting in the stands in jeans and a grey hoodie, he saw Fulham score twice in the second half to end his club's 11-year Premier League stay.

Rivals Fulham fans inevitably sang the chant "Rishi, Rishi, what's the score".

Southampton's loss on Saturday puts them eight points adrift of safety with two matches to play, and not even a parliamentary intervention would be able to change their fate now.

Born and raised in Southampton, Sunak has long spoken of his support of the team.

A biography of Mr Sunak has previously said as a youngster his father Yashvir was a season ticket holder, and one of the prime minister's "most prized possessions" was a card he received for his 18th birthday signed by the entire squad.

However, during his bid to become prime minister in August last year he came under the intense glare of the football community after saying Southampton's could improve their fortunes by beating Manchester United that coming weekend.

The team were playing Leicester City, but did have United the following week.

Rishi Sunak sat in the VIP area at Saturday's game

His teams had two goals put past them in the second half to see them fall out of the top flight for the first time in over a decade


Supporting a football team is often seen as a way for political leaders to broaden their appeal, but can prove a tricky business.

David Cameron claimed to be a Aston Villa fan, but a blunder in a speech in 2015 saw him claim the top flight's other claret and blue team West Ham - something he later put down to "brain fade".

A Newcastle United fan, Sir Tony Blair received ridicule for a number of years due an apparent claim to have seen club legend Jackie Milburn play at St James Park in the 1950s - even though the player had retired when he was five.

In 2008, the regional newspaper which first reported it clarified it had come from something misheard on the radio.

One former prime minister was never likely to make this kind of slip-up. Gordon Brown was a staunch fan of Scottish lower league side Raith Rovers and could happily recite to interviewers the full line-up of the first match he saw as a seven-year-old.

And possibly to add to Sunak's pain, Southampton's rivals Fulham have their own connection with Downing Street.

After the match, Fulham's Twitter account showed a picture of Sunak grimacing in the crowd, along with their own caption "Sorry, the only Prime Minister we recognise is Hugh Grant" - a nod to the dancing PM portrayed in 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×