Government minister Kevin Hollinrake on Thursday distanced himself from the Conservatives’ social media operation following a row with Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis.
After Mr Lewis rebuked the Tories for distorting his words in an anti-Labour attack ad, Mr Hollinrake told Sky News: “If we’ve tweeted something that’s inaccurate, that’s wrong, we shouldn’t do that.”
Following controversy over election-related gambling, the business minister added: “Do I regret some of the mistakes that people have made over recent [times]?
“Of course, it’s a distraction from what really counts in this election.”
The spat blew up after Tory HQ retweeted the consumer finance expert, speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, relaying a “private conversation” he had had with a senior Labour figure.
Mr Lewis recounted that according to the member, a “particular policy” had not made it into Labour’s manifesto as the party could not commit to it now, but hoped to see it adopted in the next parliament.
The official Conservative account ran an edited version of the clip with the words: “They’re not telling you the full truth. Labour have said they wouldn’t put up your taxes. But it’s now becoming clear that they have every intention to put them up.”
Mr Lewis hit back on X (formerly Twitter): “NO WHERE in this comment do I talk about taxes.
“And the policy that I discussed (i will keep private as it was private) was NOT about taxes, or tax rises, it was about something that would be a positive change.”
The Tories’ original post was later tagged with a “community note” by X users to explain Mr Lewis’s rebuttal.
The row comes after the Tory X account @CCHQPress was rebranded as “Tax Check UK” and churned out anti-Labour commentary during a BBC debate between Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak.
The independent organisation Full Fact tweeted: “We've written to @Conservatives to ask them to remove the ‘Tax Check UK’ rebrand of @CCHQPress.
“This misrepresents posts on the account as an impartial fact checking service. Voters deserve better.”
But the Tax Check UK branding remained live on Thursday morning, its profile reading: “Holding Labour to account on their tax bombshell - by the Conservatives.”
