A Liberal candidate has appeared to refer to Chloe Shorten, the wife of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, as a pig on social media.

In what could be the first emoji gaffe in federal politics, Kate Ashmor, who is running for the Liberals in the ultra-marginal inner-city Melbourne seat of Macnamara, posted the emoji-comment on her personal Facebook.

Chloe Shorten, the wife of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Linking to The Sydney Morning Herald's 2017 article exposing the $60,000 Labor members shelled out for Mrs Shorten's makeover for the last campaign, Kate Ashmor, the Liberal candidate for the new seat of Macnamara in Melbourne, included lipstick, pig and thinking face emojis.

When asked if she was referring to the well-used phrase "You can't put lipstick on a pig," or if she had any other meaning by denoting Mrs Shorten with the pig emoji, Ms Ashmor said she was sorry and deleted the post. "I apologise for my post from two years ago," she said.