Julie Bishop goes on emoji-fuelled late-night tweeting spree

Foreign minister, who took leading role in ousting Tony Abbott, insists her account had not been taken over by an intern after flurry of emoji posts to fans

Julie Bishop is a well known fan of the power of the emoji - the Australian foreign affairs minister once conducted an entire interview through the medium of tiny pictures.

But perhaps in an effort to soften her image in the days after she joined forces with Malcolm Turnbull to unceremoniously oust prime minister Tony Abbott from office, Bishop appears to have gone on an emoji-fuelled following spree with fans on Twitter.