The Mayor of Bradley Stoke blasted Labour leader Keir Starmer, an atheist, for attending the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday – prompting calls for him to resign. Cllr Anthony Griffiths, Conservative member for Bradley Stoke North posted to the Bradley Stoke Families (and Surrounding Areas) Facebook page, condemning the MP’s “hypocrisy”.
“What hypocrisy Kir Stanmer [sic] turning up at Westminster Catheratral [sic] when he doesn't believe in God,” the mayor wrote on Monday. “Just goes to show what the Labour Party believe in.” The post attracted almost a hundred replies from group members, before it was deleted by Cllr Griffiths himself, who told BristolLive he had no further comment to make on the matter.
It also spawned a poll, asking whether the misguided comment should cost the mayor his role on the town council, which drew 330 votes and 48 comments from group members. The questionnaire asked whether, “after his petty political and narrow minded post on Monday 19th September, should Tony Griffiths resign his post as Mayor of Bradley Stoke?”
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Of those responding, 74 per cent voted “yes”. But comments below suggested that members had mixed feelings towards the incident. Michaela Egan wrote: “Maybe he could explain why he posted it.”
Dan West shared the opinion that “he wrote a stupid post, but it wasn’t a sackable offence”. However, several commenters did express the opinion that Cllr Griffiths should resign, while others posted details of how to contact the local Conservative Party group and petition for his removal.
In a separate post on the topic, Matthew Sampson suggested that he would be attending a meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council, scheduled for Wednesday, September 28, to seek “an explanation for [the mayor’s] unnecessary comments”.
Below this, Cara Oakes expressed her outrage at the content of Cllr Griffiths’ message. “I'm religious however, some of my friends and family are not,” she wrote. “Yet [we used] the church for both my wedding and christening of my boys was full and [most guests were] atheists.”
She added: “You don't have to be religious to go to a service, bearing in mind it was an abbey not a church. You go to a service, whether it be a christening, wedding or funeral because you care for that person, it doesn't matter whether you believe in God or not.”
Babita Tanner wrote that the mayor “should not be trying to score political points on a public forum on the day of the Queen's funeral”, while also condemning “the ignorant comments on religious places”.
Rich Whetter added that the comments “were totally uncalled for and not worthy” of Cllr Griffiths’ office. He added: “Perhaps someone could call for a vote of no confidence at the meeting?”
BristolLive asked Cllr Griffiths to explain the post, and to respond to the messages condemning it. In an email response, he said only: “The post was taken down hours after it was posted. I have no further comments of [sic] this matter.”
Neither Bradley Stoke Town Council nor the Bristol and South Gloucestershire Conservatives had responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
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