Grant Shapps denies claims that he edited Wikipedia pages of Tory rivals

The Conservative Party Chairman, Grant Shapps, has become involved in a row over claims that he was behind changes made to the Wikipedia pages of his political rivals.

The Guardian reports that the online encyclopaedia has blocked a user’s account on suspicion that it was being used by Mr Shapps “or someone acting on his behalf” to edit his own page and entries about his Conservative rivals and other political opponents.

Wikipedia claims that changes made by user “Contribsx” also include the removal of embarrassing references on Shapps’ page about the Tory chairman’s business ventures under the name of Michael Green – a ‘millionaire’ web marketer.

An investigation carried out by the Guardian claims to have found that about a third of the edits made by Contribsx were on Shapps’ own page whilst the rest were made up largely of apparently unflattering changes to senior political figures in the Conservative Party such as Philip Hammond, Justine Greening and Lynton Crosby.

The company insists that “sock-puppetry” – creating a fake online identity for an “improper purpose or to mislead others” – is not permitted under Wikipedia guidelines.

When asked about these allegations by ITV News,the Conservative Party issued the following statement on Mr Shapp’s behalf:

In the wake of the initial allegations, the Liberal Democrat Press Office released a tongue-in-cheek press statement, poking fun at Mr Shapps and his alleged connection to the Contribsx user name.

The document concluded with a 'Notes to Editors' post-script, saying "This press release has been edited by Wikipedia user Contribsx."

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