Boris Johnson barred from voting under his own voter ID rules

Boris Johnson was turned away from a polling station while trying to vote on Thursday, having not brought appropriate identification — a requirement that he himself introduced while prime minister.

Johnson had attempted to vote in South Oxfordshire, which was holding an election for a police and crime commissioner, but was initially turned away after failing to produce appropriate ID, Sky News reported.

Johnson introduced the Elections Act in 2022 while prime minister. Under the act, voters must bring photographic ID to cast their ballots.

The rules were criticized by advocacy groups and the U.K.’s Electoral Commission, the country’s official election watchdog, which said they could prevent hundreds of thousands of people from voting in a future general election.