Sir Jonathan Van‑Tam has handed over the pinstripe suit and much-loved Boston United tie that became synonymous with his calm, plain‑speaking Covid‑19 briefings, gifting them to Boston Guildhall Museum in his hometown.
A national figure marking a local story
Sir Jonathan, who served as deputy chief medical officer for England from 2017 to 2022, became a familiar figure during the daily pandemic updates. He often leaned on football to explain complex epidemiology, earning public affection well beyond Lincolnshire. Donating the outfit that many will remember from those broadcasts, he said the gesture acknowledges both a chapter in his own life and one in Boston’s modern history.
"I remember coming to the museum whilst growing up in the town and going into the cells. Now that my suit has reached the end of its working life, I wanted to donate it to the museum as it marked a part of my own life and that of my hometown."
The museum has also received a tie worn at the televised press conferences, alongside one of his Pilgrims ties, a nod to his well-known loyalty to Boston United. Those touches of club colour — and the pinstripes — became part of the national visual memory of the crisis.
How and when people can see it
Boston Borough Council confirmed the donation will be folded into a forthcoming series on notable locals. Councillor Sarah Sharpe said the museum is preparing exhibition panels on famous Bostonians, with Sir Jonathan’s items set to feature in the coming months.
"We are currently working on a series of exhibition panels about famous Bostonians and this donation will be exhibited as part of that series over the next few months. Although we are rightly proud of our rich history going back over a thousand years, we are also keen to preserve contemporary history for future generations, and this donation fits very well into this category."
For a town that is used to telling its medieval and maritime stories at the Guildhall, the arrival of pandemic-era artefacts widens the lens. It puts Boston at the centre of how Britain remembers the public health response — not through statistics and graphs, but through everyday objects that framed those long evenings in front of the television.
Why this matters to Boston
For many residents, Sir Jonathan’s steady turn of phrase helped make sense of an unsettling period. The briefings began on 16 March 2020 and were delivered daily until June, as the country wrestled with unprecedented change. A doctor with expertise in influenza, he offered analogies that cut through the jargon; in December 2020, he compared the situation to a football side pulling level late in the match — a way of saying the job was far from done. His habit of showing up in sharp suits and, often, a Boston United tie underscored the message that he hadn’t forgotten where he was from.
Placing the suit and ties in the Guildhall also roots the national story in familiar surroundings. The objects provide a tangible link for school groups, families and anyone curious about how Lincolnshire figured in the wider response. They sit alongside centuries of artefacts, bridging the gap between the town’s deep past and living memory.
What’s going on display
| Item | Connection |
|---|---|
| Pinstripe suit | Worn during televised Covid‑19 briefings |
| Press conference tie | Used at national updates |
| Boston United tie | Reflects Sir Jonathan’s support for the Pilgrims |
Keeping contemporary history local
The council’s decision to include the donation within a curated display of contemporary figures signals a push to collect recent history as carefully as the medieval. The Guildhall’s cells — which the young Jonathan once explored on childhood visits — will now share space with reminders of a more recent challenge faced by every family in the borough.
For those planning a visit, the museum’s upcoming panels on well-known Bostonians will be rolled out over the next few months. The inclusion of items from Sir Jonathan’s time in office gives the series a fresh anchor point, connecting policy and public messaging to personal stories and local identity.
- Donation comprises the signature suit and two ties associated with the pandemic briefings.
- Exhibit to feature within a new sequence on famous Bostonians at Boston Guildhall Museum.
- Sir Jonathan served as England’s deputy CMO from 2017 to 2022, rising to prominence during the daily briefings from March 2020.
It is a simple donation with a lot of weight behind it. As the museum brings the suit and ties into its displays, Boston will have a new way to tell a story that belongs both to the nation and to this town — one that many here lived, watched and felt, one briefing at a time.
