Kate Hoey, the Labour MP for for the central London constituency of Vauxhall and (more importantly) a big Arsenal fan, has been appointed as the new Minister for Sport in Tony Blair's reshuffle of junior Government Ministers. She replaces Chelsea supporter Tony Banks, who is to become the Prime Minister's special envoy with responsibility for the 2006 World Cup bid.

Ms Hoey is originally from Northern Ireland, where she was a former athletics champion, and was even briefly an employee of Arsenal FC - she was involved in the education programme for the club's juniors, teaching them (according to Soccernet) how to cope with life in the real world. She is best known for her especially vocal criticism of corruption in football in general, and Terry Venables in particular, proving her Gooner credentials beyond any doubt.

Her immediate boss, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is Chris Smith - himself an Arsenal supporter, and MP for Islington South and Finsbury (not sadly the constituency into which Highbury falls... that's renowned leftie backbencher Jeremy Corbyn, also a Gooner). And with most of Tony Blair's staff in Downing Street claiming to be Arsenal fans (according to the political gossip columns, anyway) there is now an unprecedented level of influence for Gooners in the Government of the country.