Boris has had multiple stories devoted to the evolution of his hair: a unique mop of very fine unruly blond hair that has been deliberately messed up by its owner. It has even had its own Twitter account @Boris_Hair and conspiracy theorists Boris Johnson Hair Truthers.

Then there are those photo-op moments that seem designed to make him look supremely silly - stuck dangling in midair on a zip line with little Union Jacks waving in his hands; rugby-tackling a 10-year-old in Japan; playing tug-of-war in a publicity stunt and collapsing, suited, onto the grass; or declaring at one point that he was more likely to be “reincarnated as an olive,” “locked in a disused fridge,” or “decapitated by a flying Frisbee” than to become prime minister.