Boris listens to people of Grimsby and ditches football hat (for now)

More than 1,000 angry residents and fans signed a petition demanding Mr Johnson no longer wear a grey bobble hat with Grimsby Town FC initials, GTFC.

The petition claimed the former prime minister was ‘bringing the town into disrepute’ by sporting the attire.

Johnson was seen wearing the hat as he arrived at the Covid Inquiry in London last week and on a number of previous occasions.

But today he was spotted sans beanie, suggesting the 59-year-old may have listened to the protests (or it may just not be cold enough – only time will tell).

The petition, titled ‘Ban Boris Johnson from wearing Grimsby Town FC hat and shaming a community’ was started by Grimsby resident John Dale.

He wrote: ‘Disgraced ex Prime Minister Boris Johnson attended the Covid inquiry wearing a woolly hat bearing the letters GTFC.

‘It is the hat worn by fans of the highly-respected Grimsby Town Football Club. Johnson has no formal connection to the club.

‘He has never lived in Grimsby. He is using the town to add lustre and glamour to his own shattered life.

‘He is also bringing Grimsby into serious disrepute. This petition asks that Johnson stops wearing the hat and adopts a hat more suited to his lowly status eg MUFC [Manchester United].’

Other times Johnson has been snapped wearing the hat include in 2020 while on holiday in the Scottish Highland and last January as he walked his dog near Downing Street.

Asked about the hat’s appeal, Johnson has previously told Grimsby Live: ‘It’s what I grab when I run out the house. There’s no particular science to it. It’s a very good hat. It’s lovely and warm. What I like most is that it comes down and covers my ears.’

Sunak, who was a chancellor at the time, is facing allegations his Eat Out to Help Out scheme fuelled the spread of coronavirus, resulting in a spike in both cases and deaths.