Gareth Southgate's knee gesture a lesson for politicians

England team and staff have been taking the knee before kick-off at Euro 2020

England manager Gareth Southgate and assistant manager Steve Holland kneel in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign. Reuters

Politicians can learn from the England football manager’s stance on taking the knee to gain credibility with voters, a leading American pollster has said.

Gareth Southgate’s straightforward and honest take on the symbolic gesture just before a match begins is the best approach in the so-called culture wars, Frank Luntz said.

The influential political consultant, known for creating understandable phrases such as “climate change” instead of “global warming”, also said that Britain could become as polarised as American politics.

In games leading up to tomorrow’s Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark, the England players and their manager were booed by small sections of the crowd when they made the gesture, which is linked to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Before the competition Southgate wrote an open letter in defence of his players’ decision. “It’s their duty to continue to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity and racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table, raise awareness and educate.”

The words received high praise from Mr Luntz, 59, who called the article “one of the best editorials I’ve ever read”.

Formerly a Republican who left the party after the Capitol riots in January this year, the pollster wrote a political report on people’s view of politicians.

“He defines leadership,” he wrote in the report. “If a politician comes to me and says, what should I say, I tell them: be more like Gareth Southgate. He endorsed a common approach that people appreciated. That’s the definition of unity.”

He contrasted the approach with the Labour leader Keir Starmer’s release of a picture of himself taking the knee in response to the Black Lives Matters protests. The key to political credibility, Mr Luntz said, was whether people believed the actions were sincere or done for performative reasons.

“He wanted to speak in favour of something and not against it,” Mr Luntz said. “And that is a great way to bring people together. It’s something politicians don’t understand – it’s what you are for, not what you are against.”

His report urges British politicians to prevent the country sliding into the type of divisive culture war being fought in America.