Mansfield too much focus on self-publicity, as opposed to publicity for the town. The issue was raised again after his prominent role in Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington's homecoming ceremony following her Gold Medal successes at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. In April 2017, Sophie Whitby was elected to represent the Mansfield district as Member of Youth Parliament, on a manifesto which included promoting equality for the LGBT community. Benjamin Bradley has been the constituency (Conservative) Member of Parliament since May 2017, succeeding Sir Alan Meale (Labour), who served the town for thirty years. From 2010 the Parliamentary Constituency boundaries were realigned
Mansfield Town F.C. Town, who lost at Plymouth. A poor season in Division Two did not pick up even with the arrival of former England international Keith Curle as manager, as the club was relegated straight back to the fourth tier of English football. In 2003–04, Mansfield beat Northampton in a penalty shoot-out in the Division Three play-off semi-finals, but lost to Huddersfield Town in a similar fashion final, after having an apparently legitimate Colin Larkin goal disallowed. In 2007–08, Mansfield's 77-year stay in the Football League came to an end as the club was relegated to the Conference. This was in spite