Politicians face backlash as they are accused of using Lionesses victory to promote themselves after Ian Wright blasted government for jumping on bandwagon of Euro2022 success

• Lionesses’ achievement prompted different kind of huge effort from politicians
• MPs and leaders documented their support online and through social media
• Never since Line Of Duty has so many wanted to associate with popular trend 

Politicians have been accused of jumping on the Lionesses bandwagon to cover themselves in the England players’ reflected glory.

Last night there were no shortage of famous names eagerly posting pictures of themselves watching and celebrating the team’s now-famous win. 

Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Nadine Dorries, Liz Truss and Sadiq Khan were keen to be seen to show their support either at home or at Wembley.

But fans accused them of trying to jump on the bandwagon to serve their own interests. 

It came after Ian Wright called out the authorities for not doing much to support the game, warning more had to be done than just congratulate the players.

Online supporters appeared to agree and accused many of the politicians of wanting to be part of something now-popular. 

Here we are! Conservative party members Liz Truss, Therese Coffey and Nadine Dorries show just how much they are enjoying supporting the Lionesses while Sadiq Khan sits quietly

Rishi loves football! The teetotal  wannabe Tory leader was unable to stay seated as he was so excited by the Lionesses in the pub

Alessia Russo, who shot to stardom following her audacious backheeled goal in the semi-final, celebrates as the final whistle is blown yesterday

Twitter uses provided a cynical take on the politicians’ and celebrities’ sudden support

Jon F seethed on Twitter to Boris Johnson’s tweet of him watching the match: ‘I think I can speak for the whole nation when I post this. Don’t tarnish the Lionesses triumph by jumping on the bandwagon. You are no longer relevant.’

Ian Hemmens had similar thoughts about politicians in general and raged: ‘Nothing worse than seeing politicians and so called celebrities jumping on the bandwagon of sporting success.

‘It’s just pathetic shameless self serving attention seeking nonsense.’

Rishi Sunak also came in from some criticism from Patrick Hanrahan over his posts in the pub watching the final.

He exclaimed: ‘If there’s a bandwagon passing Fishi Rishi will jump on it and milk it for some PR for himself.’

Meanwhile Steve P made reference to the Labour party’s recent issues on gender controversies.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London speaks during the England Women’s Team Celebration at Trafalgar Square

Boris’s family affair! Outgoing PM and his two children sat on the floor for the whole match

She’s behind you! Spice Girl Geri hugs Nadine Dorries at the final as the MP cited ‘girl power’

He joked: ‘The added bonus of the fantastic victory by the Lionesses is that all of the bandwagon jumping Labour MPs finally seem to know what a woman is.’

It came as Wright, who worked as a BBC pundit throughout the competition, has suggested England’s policy makers will throw away the legacy of the win if girls don’t get the same chances as boys.

He has warned of MPs and businesses ‘jumping on’ the Euro 2022 victory, adding that they must be forced to invest in the game.

The former England striker said: ‘For me, someone like the Premier League takes over, markets the WSL. 

‘We need to put more money into women’s football in order to have more quality teams and start to really explode women’s football.’

Wright also highlighted the clear appetite for women’s football in the UK, but warned that the success must not stop at the Euro win.

He continued: ‘It will be [going around the world] because what they’ve shown is that there’s an appetite here for it, an appetite here for the women’s game. 

‘We see politicians rushing, we see brands rushing, munching on what they’ve done because of this tournament.

‘But what you want to see, because you have a World Cup coming up next year, you want to see them continue to invest in the WSL, invest in women’s football so they can continue to bring us success. .There are too many people going to eat on top of that.’ 

His sentiments were echoes by former Lioness and pundit Alex Scott today, who said England’s victory would be a game changer in terms of raising the profile of women’s football.

She told BBC Breakfast: ‘These Lionesses have raised the bar. They have changed the way women’s football is viewed in this country. The train has left the station and it is gathering pace.

‘It will be tragic to take any steps back after what we have witnessed yesterday and through the whole tournament.

‘There must be an opportunity for every single girl to play football if they want to.’

More than 87,000 people packed out Wembley yesterday, while a record peak audience of 17.4 million people also tuned in to watch on television.

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