Political Animals are a rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 club founded in 2010 by MP for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland. It is intended to be made up of 'parliamentarians, councillors and political staff from all political parties.' The team will play their home games at Headingley Stadium

Headingley Stadium

Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

. Greg Mulholland is the vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group and believes that the team can make the issues of sport more prominent in Parliament, stating on his website: "The Political Animals will bring more and more politicians and MP's into the game making them aware of the enjoyment gained from playing the sport."

Membership

Mike Stephenson

Mike Stephenson

Michael "Mike" Stephenson, also commonly known as Stevo, is an English Rugby League World Cup winning Rugby League, and presenter/commentator on British satellite television channel Sky Sports who also represented Great Britain in the sport.Stevo, the nickname that he is commonly known as on TV...

 is the club's president. Greg Mulholland

Greg Mulholland

Gregory Thomas Mulholland is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom, and is the Member of Parliament for Leeds North West. He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2010 general election. Before...

 MP, Lord Dominic Addington

Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington

Dominic Bryce Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington is a British politician, one of ninety elected hereditary peers currently sitting in the House of Lords. He is a member of the Liberal Democrats....

 and Andy Reed

Andy Reed

Andrew John Reed is a British Labour Co-operative politician who was the Member of Parliament for the key marginal Constituency of Loughborough from 1997 to 2010.He is a notable sports enthusiast, a fortuitous coincidence as "Loughborough is home to the most comprehensive sports development...

 have also stated they will play for the club. The club will be sponsored by The Co-operative brand

The Co-operative brand

The Co-operative is a common branding used by a variety of co-operatives based in the United Kingdom.Many in the UK mistakenly consider the Co-op to be a single national business, however each Co-operative is actually a franchise selling branded goods produced by the Co-operative Group The...

.

Currently, the following notable players have made an appearance:

1. Greg Mulholland
   Greg Mulholland
   Gregory Thomas Mulholland is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom, and is the Member of Parliament for Leeds North West. He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2010 general election. Before...
   
   
2. Dominic Addington
   Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington
   Dominic Bryce Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington is a British politician, one of ninety elected hereditary peers currently sitting in the House of Lords. He is a member of the Liberal Democrats....
   
   
3. Andy Reed
   Andy Reed
   Andrew John Reed is a British Labour Co-operative politician who was the Member of Parliament for the key marginal Constituency of Loughborough from 1997 to 2010.He is a notable sports enthusiast, a fortuitous coincidence as "Loughborough is home to the most comprehensive sports development...
   
   
4. Ikram Butt
   Ikram Butt
   Ikram Butt is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s who at representative level has played for England, and at club level for Featherstone Rovers, Leeds Rhinos, Huddersfield Giants, and London Broncos, playing at , i.e. 2 or 5....
   
   
5. Ady Spencer
   Ady Spencer
   Ady Spencer born in Warrington, Cheshire, England is a former professional rugby league player. He made history at University as the first player to win full Cambridge blues in both Rugby Union and Rugby League. He was regarded as the instrumental Cambridge player in the period of dominance over...
   
   
6. Martin Winter (mayor)