Where did those

ANALYSIS: After weeks of defamatory rumours surrounding Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford, police took the unusual step on Wednesday of confirming that he is not under any investigation.

The rumours were completely false. For police – who have confirmed they had released the statement without asking Gayford’s permission – this was supposed to be the end of the story.

But the statement left one huge question for the media, who now had a reason to print about the rumours: where on earth did they come from?

Ardern said she didn’t want to apportion the blame anywhere, but did mention ‘‘dirty politics’’ in her first statement. Whether that was an allusion to the Nicky Hager book chronicling dirty tricks from the National Party or just a common phrase is up for interpretation.

National leader Simon Bridges told media that he expected none of his MPs was spreading them.

‘‘As leader I’ve repeatedly made my expectations very clear – National MPs will not be involved in peddling rumours or innuendo.’’

It’s understood Bridges’s office contacted the prime minister’s office to assurance staff they weren’t planning to ‘‘use’’ anything from the rumours.

Bridges read his MPs the riot act on Tuesday, warning them off spreading pervasive gossip. And the gossip was pervasive. Journalists started hearing a form of this rumour months ago.

The rumours had been somewhat varied but began to get specific in early February.

A group of anonymous Twitter accounts started to tweet repeatedly about the rumours in specific terms around them.

There were images made up illustrating the rumours, along with suggestive animated gifs from films. The accounts were generally anonymous, clearly right-leaning, and pro-US President Donald Trump.

Account types varied – some had joined Twitter in 2018 or late 2017, while others had been