Sunak shows off his football skills with young players on campaign trail

The Prime Minister visited a lower league football ground as his home team Southampton celebrated their promotion to the Premier League.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his visit to Chesham United football club (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

Rishi Sunak had a go at football training and met a young fan of his home team Southampton as he kicked off the first full week on the election campaign trail.

In his first visit of Monday, the Prime Minister took part in drills at Chesham United football ground alongside young players.

Mr Sunak attempted dribbling practice alongside four different age groups: under-eights, under-nines, under-11s and under-16s.

“Did we win?” he asked the group of players he had joined after the whistle blew. “No,” one of them replied.

Another player the Prime Minister spoke to was himself a Southampton fan, as his family had links to the town.

The Saints secured a return to the Premier League on Sunday after a 1-0 win over Leeds at Wembley.

But the Prime Minister, recently spotted at a Saints game, missed Southampton’s victory party at St Mary’s Stadium on Monday afternoon to take to the campaign trail.

At one point, he was presented with the trophy that Chesham United men’s team won on coming top in the Southern League Premier South, which has led to the team’s promotion into the National League South.

He noted that Chesham had won a cup previously held by the Saints in the past.

Posing for a photo alongside the young players and the team’s trophy, Mr Sunak shouted “Chesham!” alongside the team, before adding: “and Southampton!”

Elsewhere, Mr Sunak acted as a referee alongside teenage volunteers, as he sought to promote his new national service policy.