Boris Johnson straightened his tie in a ‘small gesture of self-comfort’ after he was blanked by Jeremy Corbyn today, a body language expert has said.
The Prime Minister and Labour leader awkwardly walked side by side during the State Opening of Parliament this morning, with Mr Corbyn striking a furious pose.
And communication expert Judi James said the tension was building in Mr Corbyn’s body language before he even got up to walk with Mr Johnson.
She said Mr Corbyn then looked ‘scared’ when Mr Johnson moved across to walk with him and tried his best to avoid ‘eye contact or any form of greeting’.
Communication expert Judi James said tension was building in Jeremy Corbyn’s body language before he got up to walk with Boris Johnson at the State Opening of Parliament today
Ms James added how Mr Johnson carried out a public ‘cutting’ of the Prime Minister, suggesting he feels his downfall is ‘almost entirely Boris’s fault’.
Mr Johnson then went to ‘straighten his tie in a small gesture of self-comfort that suggests even he has been made to feel awkward’, Ms James said.
She told MailOnline: ‘The tension is building in Corbyn’s body language before he even gets up to walk with the PM here.
‘Sitting perched on the edge of his seat he part-rises once before sitting again to wait for Boris, but his edgy pose makes him look like a greyhound waiting to leap out of the trap and be gone off as quickly as possible.
‘His eyes are on Boris at this point, but the moment Boris moves across to join him Corbyn looks scared, like a man who might turn to stone if he so much as acknowledges the PM’s presence via eye contact or any form of greeting.
When Boris Johnson moves across to join him, Mr Corbyn ‘looks scared, like a man who might turn to stone if he so much as acknowledges the PM’s presence’, according to Ms James
Mr Johnson straightens his tie in a ‘small gesture of self-comfort’ after he was blanked by Mr Corbyn today, according to body language expert Ms James
‘Boris looks relaxed, upbeat and chatty, buttoning his jacket and apparently trying to engage Corbyn in the usual social small-talk that occurs between party leaders during these exits from the chamber for the Queen’s Speech.
‘Corbyn makes no non-verbal acknowledgment though and his very public ‘cutting’ of the PM suggests he feels his current downfall is almost entirely Boris’s fault.
‘Boris’s response is to straighten his tie in a small gesture of self-comfort that suggests even he has been made to feel awkward by this toe-curling lack of response.’
Mr Corbyn endured the short trip from the Commons to the Lords this morning alongside the happy Prime Minister in stony silence today.
It comes less than a week after his party was humiliated at the General Election and handed Mr Johnson’s Conservatives a majority of 80.
Mr Corbyn endured the short trip from the Commons to the Lords alongside the happy Prime Minister in stony silence, less than a week after his party was humiliated at the polls
Mr Corbyn has been noted for regularly not speaking to the Conservative leader of the day as they walk side by side for the parliamentary spectacle, despite their efforts to make small talk
Mr Corbyn has been noted for regularly not speaking to the Conservative leader of the day as they walk side by side for the parliamentary spectacle.
And after he announced he would quit as leader in the new year following the election defeat, Mr Corbyn looked especially humourless today.
The Queen set out the government’s agenda in a scaled back ceremony in the House of Lords, without the usual pomp and ceremony.
It was the second time she had made the trip from Buckingham Palace in two months, but the context could hardly be more different, after the election rout.
Mr Corbyn was joined by a similarly downbeat-looking Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, in the House of Lords
Mr Johnson vowed to ‘take Britain forward’ today as the Queen’s Speech unveiled his ten-year plan to seize the benefits of Brexit
There was an element of deja vu in today’s sideshow as it mirrored what happened at the last State Opening of Parliament in October.
Then, the usually gregarious Prime Minister attempted to strike up a conversation with Mr Corbyn as he and the left-wing leader led MPs to the House of Lords.
But while Mr Corbyn had a warm greeting for Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, he made little attempt to engage with his Tory rival.
They walked in uncomfortable near-silence through the lobby separating the two chambers, at the head of a column of politicians.