Spot the difference:
2008: Boris Johnson warmly shakes the hands of Guglielmo Picchi and Raffaele Fantetti, the People of Freedom (Europe Overseas constituency) candidates in the Italian general election.
2012: Boris Johnson warmly shakes the hands of Guglielmo Picchi and Raffaele Fantetti, the People of Freedom (Europe Overseas constituency) candidates in the Italian general election.
The more recent photo was used in a People Of Freedom party election leaflet which was sent to Italian expatriates living in London. According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, the Mayor of London is furious that his image has been used without permission and he does not endorse any of the candidates. The People Of Freedom (Il Popolo della Libertà) party is, of course, the party founded by Silvio “Bunga Bunga” Berlusconi. Quite why Boris Johnson might want to suddenly distance himself when he’s evidently been more than happy to publicly support the party’s Europe Overseas candidates is anybody’s guess.
As Guglielmo Picchi says on his Facebook page:
Do you think that he would have agreed to having the same picture shot twice with the same people 4 years apart and exactly during his campaign and ours had he not wished to support us? His campaign director and staff can confirm the reciprocal use of the photo for electoral purposes. We used it in 2008 and again in 2013 in our parliamentary elections.
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