Cunliffe's wife behind anonymous Twitter attack account

UPDATE: David Cunliffe's wife, Karen Price, has issued a statement saying her husband was not aware of an anonymous Twitter attack account she set up on Saturday.

Mrs Price says her husband had "absolutely no knowledge of the account until a media outlet raised it with him on Tuesday night".

Suspicions were raised after Herald editor Shayne Currie took to social media to say he checked out @TarnBabe67 at 8.18am on Saturday morning after the account was used for an attack on his newspaper. He noticed that @DavidCunliffeMP was the account's first follower.

Mr Cunliffe said he hadn't had access to his own Twitter account since the Christchurch East by-election when he broke electoral laws by urging locals to vote for Labour candidate Poto Williams and received a police warning. His staff had changed the password to prevent him being tempted.

"The account is now closed and I apologise to all those I have offended in any way. I will be taking a short break and will not be commenting further," Ms Price said in a statement.

"Our family has been under intense media pressure since the election. My actions were ill-judged and the result of extreme frustration and trying to look after my husband and family."

Cosgrove hits back
Meanwhile, Labour list MP Clayton Cosgrove (44), described as a "has-been" in Ms Price's Twitter feed, has hit back.

He described the tweets as "gutter stuff and I think we need to rise above it".

It was "a shame that David is using others to do this sort of thing. I feel very sorry for those people," Mr Cosgrove said.

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EARLIER: Labour's leadership race has taken another surreal turn.

David Cunliffe has revealed his wife, lawyer Karen Price, was behind an anonymous Twitter account that attacked the media, and his rivals.

Speaking on TV3's Firstline this morning, acting Labour leader David Parker said he received a phone call from Mr Cunliffe last night confirming Ms Price created  "@TarnBabe67".

"It is a time of high emotion for families," Mr Parker said.

"David worked hard over the campaign and his family would have seen how hard he worked ... I’m sure Karen regrets her actions."

Ms Price's nickname is Tarn, leading party insiders to suspect she was behind the account.

Another tip-off: the account's first follower was one @davidcunliffemp.

Fairfax approached Mr Cunliffe with that theory last night. @TarnBabe67 was shut down soon after.

"I have only just become aware of this Twitter account," Mr Cunliffe told Fairfax — begging the question of whether he or his office signed up @davidcunliffemp as the account's first follower, as claimed by Herald editor Shayne Currie, who checked the account after being abused at 18.18am on Saturday morning.

"It has nothing to do with my campaign. My understanding is that it was started by a family member who wanted to defend me at a stressful time," Mr Cunliffe said.

The anonymous account reportedly let rip at the NZ Herald, which published candid photos of Mr Cunliffe on the beach on September 26 (Saturday, the day he resigned ahead of Labour's primary race).

TarnBabe67 abused me/Herald at 8.18am on Saty. I checked account: @DavidCunliffeMP was first follower. She was not following him.

— Shayne Currie (@ShayneCurrieNZH) September 30, 2014

@TarnBabe67 also called Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Clayton Cosgrove "long past their use-by date" and said "The jealousy of Cosgrove and Mallard knows no bounds."

MPs who did not back Mr Cunliffe should be expelled from the party, @TarnBabe67 tweeted.

Mr Parker called for contenders to conduct the leadership contest in a "seemly" fashion.

The level of discourse has hit a sub-optimal point over the past 48 hours with Mr Cunliffe asserting rivals Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern were "Beltway babes doing backroom deals."

Mr Robertson retorted that Mr Cunliffe had been watching too much West Wing.

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