McConnell is a former chief of staff to NSW Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell and corporate affairs manager at supermarket giant Woolworths, while Achterstraat has worked for both former federal tourism minister Richard Colbeck and former federal trade minister Andrew Robb.

When I confronted McConnell and Achterstraat about the news last week, both men repeatedly told me that they were joking with the BuzzFeed employee and strenuously denied they were working with Bernardi.

But that changed on Monday.

This morning the ABC’s political editor Chris Uhlmann and Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt both reported that the conservative’s announcement about a split from the party was imminent.

So I followed up with Commtract. This time, there was no mention of jokes.

McConnell sent me a statement saying the firm would not comment “on our individual clients”.

“We are an apolitical organisation that supports hundreds of talented professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds. We work for organisations right across the political spectrum. We do not provide comment on our individual clients.”

Bernardi’s future in the Liberal party has been under a cloud since last year. The South Australian conservative, who occupied the privileged number two position on the Liberal party’s state Senate ticket at the last election, has long been considering setting up a breakaway party, inspired by the election of US president Donald Trump.

Last year, Bernardi did a stint at the United Nations in New York, and posted pictures of himself partying with US President Donald Trump’s team, including campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.