Author JK Rowling, the Pope, US rapper Jay-Z, TV stars Ant and Dec, and actor Richard E Grant have lost their blue ticks on the social networking site, along with the Labour and Conservative parties and many correspondents at Sky News.

The only blue ticks left will be those with a Twitter Blue subscription, which costs up to £11 a month in the UK, or those who are affiliated with the company.

Accounts with different coloured checkmarks will keep those - gold indicates they are a verified business, while grey means they represent a government, multilateral organisation or official.

It brings the curtain down on one of the most tumultuous elements of Musk's stewardship of Twitter since his controversial $44bn (£38bn) takeover last October.