If you ever wanted to see Jeremy Corbyn lunge, the Mail on Sunday (MoS) has you covered. A week after reports that civil servants feared the 70-year-old was “too frail” to be prime minister, Corbyn has been spotted working out in a London park with a personal trainer.
In addition to snaps of him doing sit-ups, stretches and cycling, the report has a range of details, including the claim that Corbyn’s PT previously helped keep Rihanna in shape and the fact that his workout gear is firmly on brand. The Labour leader’s T-shirt, the MoS explains, is from the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ festival, which “pays tribute to six agricultural workers from the Dorset village of Tolpuddle sentenced to transportation to Australia for forming an organisation to protest against falling wages”.
As a lifelong Labour party member, I’m heartened by the knowledge that Corbyn can win a fight with a resistance band. But I can’t help but think this focus on physical fitness for politicians is getting out of hand. It reminds me of the repeated shots of Tory-leadership candidates jogging, as if the ability to run out of your house is code for being a go-getter (he literally knows where he’s heading!) or a disturbing virility display. Before you know it, you’re Putin bareback on a horse.
The Corbyn attack by the civil service last month was worrying because it contravened basic rules of impartiality. But on another level, it has brought up questions over what characteristics we culturally expect in our leaders, and the ignorant links many still make between physical fitness and mental ability. For example, a key accusation of Corbyn was that he is losing his memory and somehow (however baseless the claim) a picture of him cycling is somehow said to be evidence this isn’t true. If physical fitness equals political capability, what’s this saying about disabled MPs? While adequate stamina is a necessity for a demanding job, such an emphasis soon slides close to being ablest as well as ageist. There are many things Britain should be demanding from its leaders right now. The ability to jump in Lycra isn’t one of them.
