Hours before Britain’s new prime minister Boris Johnson visited Buckingham Palace to receive an invitation from the Queen to form a government, a protest message calling the controversial leader a “liar” was projected onto the monarch’s London residence.
In the early-morning darkness on Wednesday, the words: “Your Majesty your new prime minster is a LIAR” were cast onto the front of the famed palace. The message also included an image of Johnson holding up a kipper -- a small, oily fish that is cured by splitting it open and salting, brining or smoking it.
The photo of the U.K.’s former foreign secretary appears to be taken from a press conference last week in which Johnson famously waved around a kipper to illustrate his point that the European Union’s “pointless, expensive” health and safety regulations were negatively impacting Britain’s trade in the fish.
The Conservative Party leader has been dogged by accusations of lying on numerous occasions. The former journalist was fired from a post with the Times of London for fabricating a quote for a story in 2004.
In 2004, Johnson was fired from his position as the shadow arts minister after lying to his party’s leader about an extra-marital affair.
In addition to the message projected on Buckingham Palace, a video with various interview clips of Johnson was projected onto Windsor Castle early Wednesday morning.
In the clip, Johnson is heard talking about the kippers trade at that earlier press conference. He’s also seen listening as BBC interviewer Eddie Mair presses him about that extra-marital affair and another incident where he’s accused of giving a journalist’s address to a friend who wanted to hurt them.
Throughout the projected video, text appears calling Johnson “a liar,” “a bully,” and a “threat to democracy.”
The anti-Brexit protest group Led By Donkeys has claimed responsibility for projecting the critical messages on the royal residences. The group has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for more protest campaigns against Johnson and his plan for the country to leave the EU.
“In less than a hundred days, Johnson is on course to crash this country out of Europe without a deal,” the group wrote. “We plan to stop that happening - using facts, creativity, humour and confrontation.”
Led By Donkeys has organized other attention-grabbing protests in the past, including a projection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings in the U.K. on the Tower of London before his visit to London in June and billboards criticizing Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage.
Johnson met with the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday following former prime minister Theresa May’s official resignation. He then delivered a speech at 10 Downing Street before setting to work appointing his new cabinet.
