Eagerly hoping to cast his vote, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was turned away from a polling station during last week’s local elections – after forgetting to bring a valid ID. Two years earlier, it was his very own government that made photographic ID a legal requirement to vote. The UK’s election watchdog had previously criticised the policy. It cited the potential to exclude voters, especially poorer demographics and those from ethnic minorities or with disabilities. Johnson returned later that day with the necessary documents and did eventually vote.

While standard practice in many European countries, May’s nationwide local elections marked only the second occasion Brits were required to show voter ID. But according to the UK’s Electoral Commission, few voters were troubled by the new law – adding further egg to Johnson’s face.