Boris Johnson forgets voter ID in major polling day blunder | 4SUU6Q3 | 2024-05-03 11:08:01
Boris Johnson was turned away from voting at his local polling station yesterday after forgetting to bring an acceptable form of photo ID.
Polling station staff told the former prime minister to go away and come back after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.
You can follow all the latest in the local elections in the Metro live blog.
Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley was being selected, according to Sky News.
He posted on X on Thursday morning: 'The polls are now open. Vote Conservative today!'
It looks like Boris wasn't the only MP who forgot his ID as Tom Hunt, MP for Ipswich asked local members to act as his 'emergency proxy' after he found that he had no appropriate ID to vote in the local council elections.
In a screenshot of a Whatsapp conversation, published by ITV political correspondent Harry Horton, Mr Hunt is seen asking for help from members following a 'bit of drama', adding: 'Turns out I have no appropriate ID to vote tomorrow'.
The Elections Act has proved controversial, with fears that it would prove a deterrent to voting, particularly among disadvantaged groups.
</div> In 2023, the Electoral Commission warned the new law, which requires people to show acceptable forms of photo ID when voting in person, could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including those with disabilities and from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The commission found that in local elections last May, 14,000 people were not able to vote because they did not have acceptable ID.
In England, passports, driving licences, blue badges and certain local travel cards are accepted forms of voter ID.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson did not deny he had failed to bring ID, saying only: 'Mr Johnson voted Conservative.'
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