Rishi Sunak's bus stop ad is a manipulated photo from Serbia

An image has been circulating on social media showing a poster on a bus shelter with a picture of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and text reading: “See you next Thursday. Search for ‘vote tactically’ to get the Conservatives out of power on Thursday 4th July.” Some images include the letters “CU” instead of “see you soon”.

Assessment

The image has been edited, the poster detail has been added to a stock image of a bus shelter in Belgrade.

Facts

The same image, but with a blank space in place of Sunak’s poster, is available for purchase on Shutterstock, a database of stock photography.

There are also two other images of the same bus shelter taken from different angles available on Shutterstock.

The images appear to be from Belgrade, Serbia. The concrete wall in the background, with its stone urns and inlaid metal decorations, matches Google Street View images taken in a park in the Serbian capital.

The building in the background also matches the Street View images of the location.

Connections

Publication on X (archived)

Second article on X (archived)

Third article on X (archived)

Article on Bluesky (archived)

First image Shutterstock (archived)

Second image Shutterstock (archived)

Third image Shutterstock (archived)

Street View one (archived)

Street View Two (archived)