A Conservative election candidate has stepped down over historic social media posts about a Labour MP and Colonel Gaddafi.
Antony Calvert, who was standing to be MP for Wakefield, also made comments about food poverty in a report made by The Sunday Times.
The 41-year-old said the Facebook posts were more than 10 years old.
Mr Calvert said his comments were “certainly not intended to cause any offence”.
In one post, Mr Calvert is said to have written that if former Libyan dictator Gaddaffi wanted to walk the streets unrecognised “he should surely have fled to Bradford”.
Mr Calvert responded in a statement saying: “Over the last 24 hours a number of very historic posts from my personal Facebook timeline have featured in the news media.
“While I would prefer to stand and fight the assertions, these comments represent neither my views nor those of the Conservative Party.”
Mr Calvert’s decision to stand down came days after Tory candidate Nick Conrad stood down for historic comments in which he said women should “keep their knickers on” in a conversation about rape.
Meanwhile Labour candidate Gideon Bull resigned in Clacton, Essex, after it emerged he had used the word “Shylock” during a private meeting. He denied knowing the meaning of the term and was accused of the remark being anti-semitic.
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
