Penny Mordaunt’s team hijacks Nadhim Zawahi’s hashtag as Chancellor fans clicking NZ4PM.com are taken straight to Team Mordaunt’s website
- The future Chancellor’s website nz4pm.com redirects to Mordaunt’s site
- Penny’s team has been praised for hilarious ‘preemptive cyber-squatting’
- Zawahi’s leadership website launches tomorrow as the Tory race heats up
- Eight hopeful candidates remain ahead of the first round of voting today
conservative MP Penny MordauntThe team has been accused of hijacking Nadhim Zawahi’s hashtag in the race to become Tory leader after a ‘sly’ website blunder.
Chancellor Zahawi – who has yet to launch his official campaign website – revealed yesterday that his slogan to become prime minister is NZ4PM, which fans say is very similar to Penny Mordaunt’s slogan, PM4PM.
Mordaunt, 49, launched her leadership website under the domain pm4pm.com earlier this week ahead of what is expected to be a fierce first ballot between the final eight candidates.
However, fans of the 55-year-old Chancellor realized that when they try to go to Zahawi’s future website nz4pm.com, they will be redirected directly to his competitor’s home page.
Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt’s team has been accused of hijacking Nadhim Zawahi’s hashtag in the race to become party leader after a ‘devious’ website blunder
Chancellor Zahawi (pictured) – who has yet to launch his official campaign website – revealed yesterday that his slogan to become leader of the Tory party is NZ4PM
After clicking nz4pm.com, voters are presented with a white screen that reads, “Vote for Penny Mordaunt in this 2022 Conservative election.”
Moments later, users are taken to the swanky home page of the Portsmouth North MP.
Penny’s election team has been praised for its hilarious “preemptive cybersquatting” in an effort to catch voters trying to reach the chancellor’s website ahead of the first ballot.
Journalist Rob Minto saw the tech trick and wrote, “OK, domain wars are ON. Zahawi uses the hashtag NZ4PM, but nz4pm.com redirects to pm4pm.com, Penny Mordaunt’s campaign website!
‘Digital Skills: Zahawi 0 – 1 Mordaunt.’
Others called the hack ‘comedy gold’ ahead of the Stratford-upon-Avon MP’s website launching tomorrow as the Tory leadership competition heats up.
The MPs still in the running include Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi.
The surviving candidates went straight to a hustings event last night, faced with questions from Tory MPs behind closed doors in parliament.
Zahawi’s campaign website hasn’t launched yet – but fans now know that the domain won’t be nz4pm.com as this has seemingly been taken over by its competitor, Mordaunt
One user said: ‘Lesson one of PR in the digital age Register all your domain names BEFORE you publish the logos.’
A second enthusiastic spectator added: ‘This is brilliant. Cyber warfare has broken out in the Conservative leadership contest.”
Another wrote on Twitter: ‘If you can’t manage to register a domain name, how the hell can you aspire to become a PM?’
But others, including Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, found the digital trick less funny.
She wrote: ‘What a Jap. Meanwhile, in the real world, people are struggling to feed their children… and the British government with the power and resources to act is utterly paralyzed.”
Zahawi and Mordaunt campaign teams have been contacted for comment.
It comes as former health minister Sajid Javid – who sparked the coup against Boris Johnson by resigning last week – pulled out last night after failing the 20 approvals from Conservative MPs needed to appear in the first round.
It comes as former health minister Sajid Javid – who sparked the coup against Boris Johnson by resigning last week – pulled out last night after failing the 20 approvals from Conservative MPs needed to appear in the first round.
Home Secretary Priti Patel also withdrew, refusing to say who she will support, but her departure is a potential addition to Ms Truss’ campaign.
Surprise candidate Rehman Chistia also admitted his defeat shortly before yesterday’s 6 p.m. deadline after failing to secure supporters.
