Harry Maguire: England defender says Tories 'had no permission' to use his image on social media post

England defender Harry Maguire has scolded the Tories after an image of him was used in an online post by the Conservatives without permission.

The Manchester United player said that the party had gained "no permission" to use the image in the post promoting the Footballing Governance Bill on the official Conservatives X account. The image, which shows Maguire speaking his then-girlfriend and now-wife, Fern Hawkins, in the stands of the stadium following a 2018 World Cup match. The photograph has been widely used on social media as a meme format for years since the tournament, often with the joke being that the person is boasting to impress.

In the post, the Tories said: “Rishi said any League with me in it would be Super anyways”. The Footballing Governance Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons this week, with the aim of the bill to make football in England financially sustainable and to help avoid any future plans for a so-called 'European Super League'.

When asked if the party had permission or had asked about using his likeness in the post, Maguire told reporters: "No, they have had no permission. I didn't even know about the advert to be honest.” He also dodged questions about Sunak's ability as Prime Minister. When asked if he could do a better job, Maguire laughed and said: "No comment."

It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer took aim at the modified colour of the St George's Cross on the back of the new England Euro 2024 kits, designed by Nike. He said of the colour change: "I'm a big football fan, I go to England games, men, women's games. The flag is used by everybody, it's unifying, it doesn't need to change. We just need to be proud of it. So I think they should just reconsider this and change it back. I'm not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change it in the first place."

England is set to kick off a series of friendlies against Brazil, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland ahead of Euro 2024 this summer in Germany. The first friendly will take place at Wembley Stadium on Friday night against Brazil.