AN East Lancashire MP has combined his love of politics and football by joining the official parliamentary team.

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones has played a series of games for the side since taking office last year.

And the big centre-half joined his political colleagues to take on a team of celebrities, including TV presenter Angus Deayton, Brighton and Hove Albion manager Gus Poyet, and comedian Omid Djalili, at Stamford Bridge, to raise £30,000 for charity.

Mr Jones, 45, a Blackburn Rovers season ticket holder, said he even hopes to gain the captain’s armband for next season.

He said: “We play about one match every month and they are really enjoyable, plus it keeps me fit.

“A lot of the games are for charity, and we pay all of our own expenses, so we try to raise a lot of money and also the profile of the organisations we support.

“This season we have played games against all sorts of opposition.

“Hopefully I’ll be captain next year. That’s what I’ve got my eye on!”

The game saw UK Parliamentary FC take on a Cystic Fibrosis Trust XI.

The final score was 6-4 to the charity.

Ex-professional referee and Sky Sports pundit Dermot Gallagher officiated the match.

The Parliamentary team plays goodwill games once a month on Tuesday mornings when Parliament is not sitting.

Of his Labour colleagues, Mr Jones said that Evertonian Andy Burnham was ‘a tidy player’, while Ed Balls was ‘quite decent’.