News Corp’s Louise Mensch stoked controversy on Twitter after appearing to call into doubt the ethnicity of a protester at a press reform demonstration.

Mensch, who describes herself as vice president of creative and strategy at News Corp on Linked In, retweeted a photo from Press Gazette’s coverage of yesterday’s protest.

The image showed demonstrators holding placards outside the Department for Media, Culture and Sport in Westminster, including two figures dressed as News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch and Prime Minister Theresa May.

Mensch said: “And by ‘protestors’ we mean seven old white blokes with beards, three girls in Chelsea tractor troos and nobody of colour.”

The tweet was replied to by Hannah Mian, who said that she was “a person ‘of colour’” and was in the photo. Mensch responded, saying: “No Hannah, no you are not.”

Mian then sent a photo of herself to Mensch dressed in a saree, asking the Heat Street founder if it was “Ethnic enough for you?”

The former MP for Corby, who resigned in 2012 to spend more time with her family helped News Corp set up alternative news website Heat Street.