Mayor of London Sadiq Khan admits he ‘lost his mojo’ during the Covid-19 pandemic and takes a swipe at Boris Johnson for testing his ‘virility’ by ‘shaking everyone’s hand’ before lockdown
- The mayor of London was discussing mental health with the Loose Women panel
- Khan, 49, said he struggled with low mental health as a leader during lockdown
- Said he would rather be seen as ‘weak’ than doing any press stunts
- He slammed Boris Johnson for shaking hands with people at beginning of crisis
The Mayor of London opened up about his mental health on the set of Loose Women this morning.
Sadiq Khan, 49, was asked whether admitting he felt vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic was a ‘calculated’ political decision.
Khan said: ‘The one calculation I made was – am I helping more people by taking about it?
‘That to me outweighs people thinking I’m weak and not fit to be the mayor of this great city.’
He also took a dig at the Prime Minister while discussing leadership in the time of coronavirus on the daytime show.
He said he found it astonishing to see Boris Johnson boasting about shaking people’s hands at the start of the health crisis, when it was known the virus spread through close contact.
Boris Johnson was criticised at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis for boasting about shaking hands with everyone he met, two weeks before the lockdown was put in place.
Khan, who talked about his support of the Loose Women campaign Stand by Your Men, reminded viewers that men account for three quarters of the UK’s suicide deaths.
Scroll down for video
Sadiq Khan, 49, took a dig at the Prime Minister for boasting about shaking hands at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, saying he thought it was a ‘daft’ thing to do
Opening about the challenges he faced during lockdown, Khan admitted he had struggled to find his ‘mojo.’
‘I speak to so many Londoners, who feel the same way as I do,’ Khan said. ‘It wasn’t a calculated decision, it was just me being honest as I tried to be authentic throughout my political career.
‘When you’re a leader, as I’ve tried to be a good one, a lot of your leadership comes from you, you being dynamic, and I’ve felt a bit low.
‘It’s important in my job to have your mojo, to be leading and be confident. The thing I normally have, I’ve not felt.’
Back in March, and before contracting the virus himself in early April, Boris Johnson boasted about shaking ‘everybody’s’ hands after visiting a hospital where they were covid patients (shaking hands with Anthony Joshua on Commonwealth Day, March 9)
The Mayor of London admitted he had suffered from low mental health during the lockdown, and that finding his ‘mojo’ had been a challenge
Reminding viewers that three quarters of the people who took their own lives were men in the UK, he stressed the importance for men to open up about their mental health.
He also criticised Boris Johnson for boasting about shaking hands ‘with everybody’ during a hospital visit in March where there were confirmed coronavirus patients.
It was revealed on May 5 in the SAGE files that scientists had urged the Prime Minister to warn people against shaking hands the same day he boasted about the feat during a press conference.
The Prime Minister was then confirmed to have contracted the virus in early April and was moved to intensive care on April 7.
Khan applauded the Loose Women Stand by your Men campaign, which encourage women to get men to talk about their prostate cancer
The mayor’s comments stemmed from a remark by Kay Adams, who pointed out that world leaders like president Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro had not respected social distancing or safety guidelines during the pandemic.
‘I did find it astonishing when Boris Johnson went around claiming he was shaking everyone’s hand, it seemed to me a daft thing to be saying when we know this thing spread by close contact,’ he added.
He likened shaking hands and not wearing a mask during the pandemic as a ‘virility test’ stemming from the ‘alpha male’ mentality.
He went to stress the important of the Loose Women Stand by Your Men campaign, which is run with Prostate Cancer UK.
The campaign encourages women to talk to men about how prostate cancer can be treated.