Sheila Oakes, a Labour councillor and mayor of Heanor, in Derbyshire, made the comments below a Facebook post about the news and has had to issue a grovelling apology over it.
Oakes’ local Labour party leader said he was “appalled” and said there would be an inquiry.
In response to a post asking people to say a “little prayer” for the prime minister on Monday night, Ms Oakes had written: “Sorry, he completely deserves this and he is one of the worst PMs we’ve ever had.”
On Tuesday Ms Oakes said she “apologised for upsetting people and saying it”.
She told the BBC: “I didn’t think what I said would upset so many people. It came across as not a nice thing to say.
“I’m concerned about nurses and doctors who don’t have protective equipment. I said something when I was angry without thinking about the prime minister or his family.”
Chris Emmas-Williams, who leads the local Labour Party said:
This behaviour is totally unacceptable and not what the Labour Party are about.
I’ve not made the comments but I feel as leader of the Labour group I have to apologise as well to Boris Johnson and his family and we wish him well because we need everyone possible to fight this disease.
Many commentators are saying this is a big test of Keir Starmer’s leadership to see if he will take action against such comments. UPDATE: She has now had the party whip removed from her and she is no longer a Labour politician.
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
