The internet never forgets, and this faultless memory has undone many politicians as spurious tweets or unflattering remarks come back to bite them. This might be cause for paranoia about what you release to the online rabble of hounds, but not for Boris Johnson, for whom nothing, even describing Muslim women wearing burkas as "letter boxes", seems to stick.

The latest scandal barely threatening to rumble his leadership bid is a theory that photographs released of him and his partner were not, as the Johnson campaign have reportedly confirmed, taken this weekend at all. The giveaway? A miraculous overnight hair-growth that would put him as the front-runner for a L'Oreal's thickening shampoo range should his Prime Ministerial bid prove unsuccessful.

The photographs of Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds gazing into each other's eyes in a field in Sussex came several days after a row between them at her home which led to the police being called. According to a recording released to the Guardian, Symonds can be heard shouting "get off me" and neighbours reported hearing the sound of plates smashing.

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Compare and contrast hair style of Boris. The ‘lovers in a field’ picture and this...Could it possibly be an older picture? Pre ‘police call out row’. #cynicsview Does hair grow that fast? @BorisJohnson maybe you could confirm or deny? pic.twitter.com/p8abmpewFn — Plane Jane 🇪🇺 (@knit1slip1psso) June 25, 2019

Intended as proof all is well, the images published by the Daily Mail were widely mocked for being staged, with FT deputy editor Janine Gibson tweeting, "It’s very upsetting that Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’s privacy has been invaded once again. This time by a photographer who appears to have been hiding in exactly the right bush to capture a picture of them holding hands to demonstrate their love."

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Are we expected to believe the field photo is from the weekend? Even Boris Johnson’s hair doesn’t grow *that* fast. pic.twitter.com/Z731ZZhlJd — Canuckuk (@canuckuk) June 24, 2019

The questions might have died down were it not for the endless memes they inspired on Twitter - from an IKEA furniture advert to a Mills & Boon cover - causing everyone to look a little closer at his hair.

The day before at a hustings in Birmingham Johnson sported a sharper and shorter trim which is thinner at the back, reportedly the result of a nervous barber who took too much off. However, the supposedly more recent shots of him outside show the more unkempt and thick hair that he used to have.

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Hi @BorisJohnson,

You've gotta help a girl out! A day ago you had fairly short, trimmed hair. Today in the Evening Standard, your blond locks are much longer and more luxuriant! What's your secret? How does your hair grow so fast? pic.twitter.com/wlcm09zCjY — Snigdha (@snigskitchen) June 24, 2019

Twitter users have taken to sharing side by side images of the 'before' and 'after', speculating that 'after' looks a lot more like 'before'. Conspiracy theorists are even speculating whether the images are in fact of Johnson at all, suggesting it looked more like Ed Sheeran, or arguing that it was a body double - one up there with ongoing fake Melania Trump debate.

Far-fetched perhaps, but the question of when these images were taken persists, with Johnson dodging the question in an uncomfortable LBC interview this morning in which he asked, "Why should I tell you when the picture was taken?"

Whether or not the images are ever proven to have been taken at another date, and given Johnson's talent for evasion the latter seems unlikely, the incident shows that releasing images as proof something is real only makes people want to look for evidence it might be fake. It's a reminder that even if you can't remember you've had a haircut, the internet will.



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