Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s twitter account ‘liked’ a post that backed a “strong independent win” in Wentworth on Thursday - before quickly deleting it.
The original tweet was from a man who claimed to be “handing out policy info and how-to-vote cards for Kerry Phelps”, who has emerged as the biggest electoral threat to the Liberals in the Saturday poll.
Mr Turnbull has not campaigned for his would-be successor Mr Sharma, despite strongly backing his pre-selection.
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Former PM John Howard hit the campaign trail on Thursday.
Various cabinet ministers have insisted Mr Turnbull backs Mr Sharma in the by-election and does not agree with his son, Alex Turnbull, who has been vocal in urging an anti-Liberal protest vote since his father was ousted from the leadership.
“Malcolm wants Dave Sharma to win Wentworth because he will be a future cabinet minister in Government,” Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said.
