England football fans have found a new unifying chant, turning their ire on Prime Minister Keir Starmer with songs branding him a 'wanker' and telling him to 'fuck off'. The chants, heard from Birmingham to Belgrade, mark an unprecedented shift in terrace culture, where politicians have traditionally been invisible.
The phenomenon began after Starmer's election, with fans replacing older songs about the IRA and 'Ten German Bombers' with insults aimed at the PM. The most popular version adapts the riff from The White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army', while a disco take to KC & The Sunshine Band's 'Give it Up' debuted during an away match in Andorra. In Belgrade, a new variant — 'We've got Palmer, fuck Keir Starmer' — echoed through the streets.
Unlike previous prime ministers, Starmer has actively become 'The Enemy' to England supporters. Margaret Thatcher demonised fans, and Boris Johnson or Liz Truss were ignored, but Starmer's overtures to football — holding up a shirt with the Dutch PM and promising a bank holiday if England won the Euros — backfired. The chants are not limited to extremists; they come from ordinary, solvent fans praised by Belgrade police for good behaviour.
Starmer's failed attempts to leverage football reflect his broader communication struggles. The chants, while crude, represent a rare moment of national unity in discontent, with football once again serving as a barometer of public sentiment.
