Nothing sums up Boris Johnson's disregard for rules than trying to circumvent his own voter ID laws

In the Black Country, I was told of Johnson’s continued popularity, as the former Prime Minister would be surrounded by members of the public on trips to Wolverhampton and Dudley. On TV screens, Tory MPs have been incessantly asked why they got rid of him, as Rishi Sunak’s stature wanes. The former Tory leader of Basildon Council told Jo Coburn on the BBC that MPs “should never have got rid of Boris in the first place, that is what Essex man is saying”.

So it’s always nice to have a reminder of why Johnson was rightly deposed, and like a clock strikes 12 he duly obliged. It emerged on Thursday that Johnson has been turned away from a polling station for forgetting to bring photo ID with him. Remember, the voter ID laws, which critics said were unnecessary and would disenfranchise millions, were brought in by Johnson himself.

And now he’s revealed that he actually attempted to circumvent his own voter ID rules by using Prospect magazine badge, which contained his name and address, as a form of identification. Thankfully, staff at the polling station ignored this and rightly turned him away.

It’s another example of how Johnson clearly believes the rules don’t apply to him. When starting out as a journalist, the young Etonian came up with a scoop about the discovery of Edward II’s palace. The only problem was that he’d made up the quotes, and was duly fired by the Times’ editor Charles Wilson.

This attitude continued as he became Prime Minister. To try and force through his Brexit bill, Johnson tried to prorogue (or suspend) Parliament for five weeks. At the time, many, including then Speaker John Bercow, saw his actions as being designed to limit MPs’ ability to debate Brexit, and it was eventually ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.

And of course, Johnson’s pièce de résistance which was Partygate. I don’t need to remind you about the drinking, karaoke and garden parties at No10, while the rest of us stayed at home during Covid.

But of course, Johnson couldn’t just apologise and own up - he continually claimed he had no idea what was going on, even after photos emerged of him surrounded by bottles of Champagne. It was this was saw him suspended from the House of Commons for 90 days for misleading Parliament, before he quit in rage.

Now we’ve had his attempt to circumvent his own voter ID law. He truly believes there’s one set of rules for him, and a different lot for everyone else. In a way, just like Partygate, nothing sums him up better - he can’t even be bothered to follow the laws that he introduced. There’s been a lot of talk from Tory MPs about bringing back Boris, so it’s always good to get a reminder of his true nature.

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.