We have not seen the last of Boris Johnson, apparently.
The former prime minister has just announced he has a memoir coming out later this year – and the promotional image is triggering some quite strong reactions on social media.
Johnson’s book, Unleashed, will be published by HarperCollins on 10 October, a little over two years since he officially left office.
However, most reactions to the news of his upcoming book were focused on the rather harrowing image which accompanied it.
It showed a silhouette of Johnson in black and white, with his famous, bright blonde hair standing out – and his entire face in shadow.
Notably it does not have any mention of Johnson’s name in the promo – presumably his hair is enough of an identifier.
Sharing it on his X account, Johnson described it as “a book that shatters the mould of the modern Prime Ministerial memoir”.
And it did not take long for everyone to ask the same question: Where is his face?
The peculiar lighting, along with the minimal text – it reads “Unleashed, 10/10/24” – ends up having quite the effect, judging from the responses on X (formerly Twitter).
Some said it was going to give them “nightmares”.
Others called out the unusual name, considering Johnson was a very unorthodox politician who usurped tradition on multiple occasions...
The one-time Tory beast was famously ousted from Downing Street by his own MPs following partygate and the Chris Pincher scandal.
He then resigned as a backbencher in June 2023, just before the MP-led privileges committee announced he had misled parliament by denying lockdown rules were breached in No.10.
While mostly staying out of the public eye since, he has reappeared in recent weeks by releasing campaign videos of himself promoting various Tory candidates.
It sparked a wave of speculation that he was going to join the campaign trail, which his former friend PM Rishi Sunak said he would “welcome”.
It then transpired Johnson had booked a holiday until just before polling day.