How Johnson was ‘nudged’ to wear a mask

Boris Johnson was secretly “nudged” to wear a face mask during the pandemic, according to the head of the government’s Behavioural Insights Team. In an interview for the Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute published online today by The Telegraph, Prof David Halpern says he turned his subliminal powers of persuasion on the prime minister because he was not leading by example. In the article, which looks at the politics and culture of mask wearing around the world, the chief of the “nudge unit” says Mr Johnson was shown slides of other world leaders all wearing masks while his slide showed him without one – the message got through.