Colourful Lib MP withdraws from Twitter

Colourful NSW Liberal MP Peter Phelps is quitting Twitter until after next month's state election but insists the decision is his own.

Dr Phelps, who is one of the more outspoken state parliamentarians on social media, joked it would his "50 Days of Grey" leading up to the March 28 poll.

"Given that there will be speculation about this matter, it must be stated clearly this was done entirely on my own volition," Dr Phelps, who is government whip in the upper house, said in a statement.

"I have not been `told' or `ordered' to get off Twitter. I have not been `asked' to get off Twitter.

"It has not even been `suggested' that I should get off Twitter."

A spokeswoman for the NSW Liberal Party denied there was a Twitter ban on Dr Phelps or any other Liberal MP.

Dr Phelps said his action taken was in solidarity with other candidates who will also be off Twitter for the next seven weeks.

He even likened his Twitter break to the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

"Just as Anastasia gave herself without reservation to Christian, now is the time that the Whip willingly submits to the sweet sting of Liberal message discipline for the next seven weeks," he said.

"I look upon this period as `50 Days of Grey'."

Dr Phelps' offbeat contributions to social media have at times raised eyebrows among his fellow MPs and members of the press gallery.

In 2011, he told one Twitter user to "go f*** yourself", prompting then premier Barry O'Farrell to say there was no place for such language.

In January, he weighed into the debate about Prime Minister Tony Abbott's decision to award a knighthood to Prince Philip, branding critics of the PM as "whining leftists".