UK's possible next Prime Minister visits Sixfields and meets Cobblers' staff

As part of the campaign trail, Starmer met Kelvin Thomas and supporters representative Tom Cliffe to learn about the club's impact in the local community and to discuss the Football Governance Bill.

"As a club we are politically neutral but we agreed to the visit as it gave us a valuable opportunity to speak directly to the man who could become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom about our support for the Football Governance Bill and how it could help the club and our work supporting the local community," said Thomas.

"This Is a very important issue, not just for us but for many clubs up and down the country from the Premier League down. This is not just an EFL issue, this is a football wide issue.

“It was pleasing that during the conversation Sir Keir reaffirmed his support for the Football Governance Bill – as he has publicly many times before.

“I was really pleased that Tom Cliffe was able to join us for the meeting. His input as supporters representative is essential to our decision making as a club and it was good to have Tom part of the conversation.

"We have long since gone on record to state our support for an independent regulator and whoever is elected on July 4th, we very much hope that legislation will be introduced early in the next parliament. It is important that, as EFL clubs, we keep the matter on the agenda for politicians to ensure this happens. With that in mind, leaders of the other political parties are just as welcome to visit Sixfields at any time and we thank Sir Keir for his visit.”

The current UK Government announced plans to appoint an Independent Football Regulator following the Fan-Led Review conducted by Tracey Crouch MP back in 2021, and the club have been long time supporters of the plans and the findings of the review.