The polling company YouGov secretly created material for social media as part of a controversial political campaign in Iraq last year, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

YouGov’s political work in Iraq ­included gathering information about voters and creating content for Facebook that promoted independence for Iraqi Kurdistan, according to evidence provided to The Telegraph by whistleblowers.

The material created by YouGov ­includes videos that play on fears about security, criticise the Iraqi military and praise the Kurdish armed forces, known as the Peshmerga.

Content was created for a Facebook page called Naam Kirkuk, which ­appealed to voters in the governorate of Kirkuk, a disputed oil region that is claimed by both federal Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.

In the run-up to the referendum, the page frequently posted messages attacking Iraq’s central government with statements like: “Baghdad neglected Kirkuk … Kurdistan is the one who came to help us.”

It also told voters that the referendum would give Kirkuk “the opportunity to choose between being a small part of a failed country, or a great city in a new and secure homeland”.