RODNEY Parade could be in for a VIP visitor tomorrow as Newport County AFC take on Grimsby Town, after Boris Johnson was spotted wearing a Mariners hat last week.

The former prime minister was seen wearing the GTFC football hat while leaving the Covid inquiry and an online petition has been since been launched to stop him from wearing it in the future.

Campaign organiser John Dale wrote that Mr Johnson was “using the town to add lustre and glamour” to his life since falling from power.

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.

South Wales Argus:

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

The petition has more than 1,000 signatures, with one writing: “I totally agree with the community of Grimsby that Johnson is bringing shame to them by wearing the town’s hat! He is trying to look like a man of the people when he is the total opposite!”

The hat is reported to be one of two given to Mr Johnson by Great Grimsby’s Tory MP, Lia Nici, an avid supporter of the former prime minister.

Other times he has been snapped wearing the hat include in 2020 while on holiday in the Scottish Highlands 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.”

He joked that he should sport it on pre-ordained days to boost the Mariners' fortunes, asking when it would be “strategically advantageous” to wear 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,” he said – an endorsement that will surely be appearing in the Blundell Park gift shop soon.

Grimsby are currently 19th in the League Two table, two points behind Graham Coughlan’s Exiles.

They did, however, earn their first win in five games last Saturday – beating high-flying Crewe Alexandra 2-1 – after Johnson’s hat made it’s high-profile appearance.