A Welsh personal trainer has unmasked himself as the person behind the Secret Tory Twitter account. Henry Morris, who lives near Crymych in West Wales, has now revealed he is the mastermind behind the account which has has gained close to 200,000 followers since its debut in 2019, and published a book in 2022.
Morris' sharply anti-Conservative satire sprang to prominence as Brexit dominated the news prior to the UK's withdrawal from the EU and the account has since taken a life of it's own, going by the username: @secrettory12 on Twitter. The personal trainer announced that he would be revealing his true identity towards the end of May, and anticipation has been brewing ever since.
People who have been following the account closely had started to speculate that it is either run by a famous comedian or a real-life member of parliament. Morris, though, is an ultramarathon runner and personal trainer from Yorkshire who now resides in Wales.
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Every year, Morris produces amateur Shakespeare plays in Wales, organises the Field Manoeuvres [sic] rave in Norfolk, and works with Chris Packham's Wild Justice organisation to end the persecution of raptors on grouse moors. And now, the online sensation has come clean.
Morris is not currently, and has never served as a member of parliament for any party, despite the term "MP" being in both the title of the book and the account's profile on Twitter. Morris told BBC News: "I inadvertently started parodying Mark Francois at the height of Brexit when I was bored between training clients in my gym.
"It took on a life of its own almost immediately, I remember people in the gym laughing about the account without knowing it was me, and it was very nice to have my hunch confirmed that I could make people laugh."
Speaking of why he felt now was the time to reveal himself, Morris told BBC News: "I have loved the wind-up, but I reckon its time to let people know who I really am. And anyway, I'm sure an AI will be able to do all this in a few weeks anyway."
The book which he published in 2022, titled The Diary of a Secret Tory MP: (Almost!) True Stories from the Heart of British Politics, received positive reviews such as those from LBC host James O'Brien and Times columnist Caitlin Moran. The news of Morris' true identity has sparked a flood of reaction from people who know of the account. One person said: “To be fair to Henry Morris, it's almost impossible convincingly to parody a Tory MP.”
Someone else noted: “Twitter wondering why #HenryMorris is trending… @secrettory12.” Since he revealed his true identity, people have asked him what he will do next. He said: "This isn't the end."
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