Grant Shapps was "unaware" that Boris Johnson has been photoshopped out of a now-deleted photo he posted on his Twitter feed earlier this week.
The Welwyn Hatfield MP posted a photo on Monday of a visit to Spaceport Cornwall, hailing the UK's first rocket launch which ultimately ended in failure when it suffered an anomaly.
Eagle-eyed social media users noticed that former Prime Minister Mr Johnson, who also went on the trip back in 2021, had disappeared from the picture, although part of his elbow remains visible.
An identical photo was posted on the Number 10 Flickr account in June last year, and shows the pair side-by-side in Cornwall during a visit to LauncherOne, with Mr Johnson wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words "Prime Minister".
A spokesperson for Mr Shapps claimed he was "unaware" that the picture had been edited and has since deleted it.
"Grant wasn't aware anyone had edited the picture," said the spokesperson.
"He removed it as soon as it was pointed out. Obviously he wouldn't endorse anyone rewriting history by removing the former PM from a picture.
"He was proud to serve in Boris Johnson's government."
This didn't stop Labour's Andrew Gwynne taking a swipe at Mr Shapps in the House of Commons, saying: "Perhaps he should spend less time on photoshop and more time on the day job sitting down and negotiating."
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