“Governance of a country has nothing to do with a study of its football fixtures.” So said former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who lost a General Election only days after England suffered a shock defeat to West Germany in the World Cup of 1970. He didn’t think there was any correlation between national politics and our national game. I’m not so sure these days, and neither, by the sound of it, is Sir Keir Starmer.
The serendipity of England’s achievements at the Euros coming shortly after a landslide Labour victory has certainly not been lost on our current Prime Minister, who, in the wake of the quarter-final victory over Switzerland in a penalty shoot-out, was quick to reference that England had “not missed a penalty” under his administration.
Less than a week later, he found himself in the Oval Office with Joe Biden, who, likewise, knew where to place the credit for England’s semi-final triumph over The Netherlands. “It’s all because of the Prime Minister,” said the American President. Our PM bashfully assented, echoing his previous line by saying that England “had not lost a game under the Labour government.”
You will not find Gareth Southgate taking responsibility for the UK’s new political settlement, but the England manager’s style of leadership – modest, grounded and largely undemonstrative – is certainly in tune with a more reflective, less flamboyant way of doing politics that, thus far, seems to characterise the newly installed government.
When England last played in the final of the Euros, at Wembley in 2021, Boris Johnson was the Prime Minister and the country was in a febrile state, divisive and mistrustful. As the defeated England team left the field at Wembley after that final, Gary Neville, football pundit and amateur political commentator, said of Southgate: “The standard of leaders in this country over the last couple of years has been poor but looking at that man there [Southgate] he is everything a leader should be. Respectful, humble, tells the truth, genuine.”
If there was a sense back then that Southgate was out of step with the prevailing nature of public discourse – some pointed to a lack of charisma, or called him boring – he now sets a standard in leadership in these post-Covid times, cautious and calm, eschewing triumphalism.
In every public utterance as Prime Minister, Starmer has been careful not to bask in his historic victory, saying instead that he is determined to govern for those who supported him and – “especially” – those who did not, and “to establish a way of working across the United Kingdom that will be different and better from the way of working that we’ve had in recent years”.
And listen to Southgate’s press conference on the eve of the Euro finals. “We live in what’s been an angry country,” he said. “I would love that to be different as we move forward. […] I never wanted to impose my values on people. But I think there are some fundamental human values that, if you get the chance to model them, then you should.” They both see themselves as the agents of change.
Southgate is right. This has been “an angry country’, one where people are quick to criticise and apportion blame when things go wrong. Only a couple of weeks ago, he was pelted with beer cups by fans who felt let down by England’s less than convincing performances in the early stages of the Euros. But then look at those photographs of empty main streets and teeming fan parks yesterday evening. Football matters to this nation in a way that no other sport does, and sometimes, contrary to Harold Wilson’s belief, it can set a mood that bleeds into wider society.
“I think this is a position of responsibility,” was Southgate’s assessment of the role of England manager, and who could now argue with that? “You have a chance to make a difference in things that are important,” he added. And so, if his example can help propel us beyond a post-truth world into one of greater probity and respect, and where leaders are trusted, Gareth Southgate’s contribution to society goes way beyond the confines of a football pitch.