No, London Mayor Sadiq Khan didn't refuse to shake opponent Susan Hall's hand

By: Anurag Baruah
May 7 2024

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Screenshot of a social media post falsely claiming that Sadiq Khan refused to shake hands with Conservative leader Hall. (Source: Screenshots/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

Several Facebook users in the U.K. have shared photos of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Susan Hall, the Conservative Party's candidate for the 2024 London mayoral election. These images suggest that Khan declined to shake hands with Hall. One image depicts Hall extending her right hand towards Khan, who appears to be looking at her hand without reciprocating. Another image shows Khan looking elsewhere while Hall extends her right hand towards him.

Additionally, these users have given a communal twist to the incident, alleging that Khan refused to shake Hall's hand because she is not Muslim. They even claimed a "Full Muslim takeover in London". Archived versions of some of these posts can be found here and here. 

Ian Miles Cheong, a right-wing blogger known for disseminating misinformation on social media, also shared one of these photos with a similar claim on May 5 (Archived here). 

Screenshots of social media posts falsely claiming that Khan refused to shake hands with Hall. (Source: Screenshots/Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, a video of the same event clearly shows that Khan did not refuse to shake hands with Hall. In fact, he shook hands with her immediately after the moment captured in the viral images.

What did we find?

On May 4, Khan won a landslide victory, securing the position of London's mayor for the third consecutive term by defeating his Conservative opponent, Susan Hall, by over 276,000 votes. According to the BBC, the official announcement was made around 17:00 on May 4 at City Hall in East London, an event attended by all candidates.

From this information and the viral image, which suggested a connection with the London mayoral election, we found a video of the City Hall event filmed from a different angle. This video was uploaded by the official YouTube channel of Evening Standard (archived here), a local daily newspaper from London.

The 39-second video clip posted on May 5 clearly showed that Khan looked away just before Hall extended her hand for a handshake. He did not seem to notice her initially but reciprocated a few seconds later when he saw her. A visual comparison revealed that the viral photos were taken from that brief moment on stage at the event, as seen in this video.

The photo showing Khan looking away while Hall extends her right hand for a handshake was taken at 0:26 of the Evening Standard video. The video frames before and after this moment clearly show that Khan was briefly unaware of Hall's extended hand. He reciprocated upon noticing her gesture, contradicting the claims made by social media users.

Comparison between one of the viral photos and a screenshot of the Evening Standard video. (Source: Screenshots/X/Evening Standard)

The other photo, where Khan appears to be looking down at Hall's extended hand without reciprocating, was taken around 0:28 of the video. However, within a fraction of a second, Khan can be seen shaking Hall's hand.

Comparison between one of the viral photos and a screenshot of the Evening Standard video. (Source: Screenshots/X/Evening Standard)

The Evening Standard report also mentions that 'Mr. Khan did not seem to see her (Hall) at first, as he stared ahead at the crowd of journalists and party campaigners who had come to watch the result declaration.' Hall appeared to tell him twice, 'Well done,' before he turned and shook her hand, the report added.

The Telegraph (archived here) also uploaded a full-version video of the same event, captured from the front, titled “In full: Formal declaration as Sadiq Khan wins third term as Mayor of London,” on YouTube. This clip also clearly shows that Khan did not seem to see Hall at first but quickly reciprocated after seeing her outstretched hand.

We also found a photo from the same event on the Associated Press (AP) photos website, in which Khan can be seen shaking hands with Hall. The caption read, “Conservative Party mayoral candidate Susan Hall, left, shakes hands with the winning Labour Party's Sadiq Khan on stage as he is re-elected for a record third time as Mayor of London, following the counting of votes, at City Hall in London, Saturday, May 4, 2024.”

Screenshot of the AP site with the photo. (Source: Screenshot/AP Photos)

Elliot Hammer, Conservative leader and chairman of the Tottenham Conservative Association, also posted one of the photos on X (archived link) with the caption, “Sums up this election,” implying that Khan had refused to shake hands with Hall. However, journalists called him out (archived link) for the post, deeming it misleading.

The verdict

The claim that London Mayor Sadiq Khan refused to shake hands with his Conservative rival Susan Hall is false. Videos from the event make it clear that Khan did not seem to see Hall at first but quickly reciprocated and shook hands when he saw Hall reaching out for a handshake.