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
History of Mansfield Town F.C. finished 19th. The following season, King was sacked after just three games. Captain Steve Parkin took over as manager, but his spell started just as badly, with Mansfield fifth from bottom at the New Year. Good results between New Year and Easter meant the Stags were two points off a play-off place with five games left, although they just missed out. 1997–98 and 1998–99 finished pretty much the same for Mansfield. In 1997–98, the club was again just above the relegation zone until a good run of form left them 12th, five points off the play-offs. 1998–99 was the opposite.