Jurgen Klopp Blasts UK PM Johnson, Says Leaders Should Be Elected for Merits Not Weird Haircuts

This is not the first time the German manager, who has been working in England since 2015, has criticised the British prime minister. Last summer, Jurgen Klopp condemned the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp has slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying world leaders should be elected for their merits and not because they have the "weirdest haircut". Speaking on the "Mid-Point" podcast with Gabby Logan, the German manager, who led the Reds to their first Premier League title in three decades, said the election of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson is a "bad sign for the whole world".

"Everybody knew beforehand that it will not work but we still let it happen as a society and I cannot believe that. One is now gone and the other one struggles still. It's incredible", Klopp said.

The 54-year-old then lamented the lack of people with "common sense" in politics. Klopp believes political systems should be designed so that voters choose between the most qualified candidates.

"We have to find a system where we can bring people in the position to solve all our problems [who] are the best possible people and not the most funny or the weirdest haircut or whatever. There are people out there definitely, we just have to give them a platform", he said.

The German manager is not shy about expressing his political stance. Last summer, he blasted the government of Boris Johnson for the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in particular for the belated decision to require members of the public to wear masks indoors.

"From a personal point of view, I don't understand why we started wearing face masks in closed areas on 15 June when five or six weeks ago all the other countries were doing it. You can argue about whether it makes sense to wear them, but all ­countries who started wearing face masks earlier have smaller casualty numbers than here in England. That's the truth", Klopp said.

The Reds coach also bemoaned the fact that many individuals in the UK ignore coronavirus safety measures.

"When I go to the petrol ­station in England, I am the only one wearing a face mask and I'm the only one with gloves – I feel like an alien. I will not stop doing that until someone tells me it's over", he said last June.

Klopp's criticism comes as Boris Johnson's government is dealing with a number of scandals, which caused the PM's approval rating to plunge to a record low. Last month, an inquiry conducted by several MPs revealed that the government's slow response during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic cost thousands of lives.

Additionally, the government has faced allegations of nepotism after the Health Ministry awarded medical equipment contracts worth millions of pounds to companies owned by friends of officials. Prime Minister Johnson himself has been accused of wasting taxpayer money on the lavish makeover of his residence on Downing Street.

Most recently, the Conservative Party was accused of awarding peerages in exchange for massive donations and the mishandling of the Owen Paterson scandal.