The Twitter account of the Conservative Campaign Headquarters has come under fire after it rebranded itself as “FactCheckUK” during Tuesday evening’s televised leaders’ debate.
The @CCHQPress page normally carries clear Tory branding and logos and is equally clearly named.
But as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn went head-to-head on Tuesday, the account renamed itself “FactCheckUK” and minimised any references to Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ).
The account sent a number of tweets during the debate including one declaring Johnson “the clear winner”.
The move drew immediate condemnation from viewers on Twitter, with some branding it “dystopian” and accusing it of “trying to cloak themselves in the guise of independent journalists”.
Labour’s David Lammy said the move “shows what disdain this party and his government has for the truth”.
Things then took a turn for the surreal when a number of celebrities began replicating the account on their own Twitter bios.
Charlie Brooker declared war on “Eastasia”.
And Lily Allen couldn’t wait to show off her #NewProfilePic.
More bizarreness soon ensued.
Shortly after the debate finished, the account was changed again.
Back in the studio, Corbyn has dismissed Boris Johnson’s pledge to “get Brexit done” by the end of January as “nonsense”.
In the opening exchanges of the TV debate hosted by ITV, the Prime Minister warned the UK faced more “dither and delay” under a Labour government.
He said a vote for the Conservatives would be a vote to finally “get Brexit done”.
“If you vote for us, we have a deal that is ready to go. Approved by every one of the 635 Conservatives candidates standing at this election,” he said.
“As soon as we can get that deal through Parliament, as we can in the next few weeks, we can get on with the people’s priorities.”
CCHQ and Twitter have been contacted for comment.