It has scarcely been a week since former Tory MP Douglas Carswell jumped ship to UKIP, but Britain’s entrenched political classes have already turned on him – and in one of the nastiness ways you can imagine.

Carswell, who is due to fight a by-election on the 9th October in his seat of Clacton, received a call from the Telegraph’s Tim Walker, who apparently asked him whether or not he had “had a stroke” in recent years.

The jibe is thought to have been related to Douglas Carswell’s appearance. He responded, “Tim, I have the face that God gave me,” and received an outpouring of support on Twitter after the attack.

Tim Walker of @Telegraph texts to ask if it is true that “you had a stroke some years ago”. Seriously. This is the level of briefing in SW1 — Douglas Carswell (@DouglasCarswell) September 3, 2014

Tim, I have the face that God gave me. — Douglas Carswell (@DouglasCarswell) September 3, 2014

Rumours abounded that the question was planted by the Conservative Party’s Headquarters (CCHQ), and made specific mention of the Chairman’s office. Breitbart London asked the CCHQ if they were indeed behind the line of questioning, to which they responded: “[It] Absolutely did not come from us or from Chairman’s office.”