A Conservative council candidate has been kicked out of the party over claims he posted a racist message on Facebook.
Derek Bullock was re-selected to stand for a seat on Bolton Council at local elections next month despite previously being suspended.
But tonight he was expelled from Conservatives after the Mirror alerted the party to a post on Facebook he is alleged to have made.
Following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, an account in Mr Bullock’s name commented on a news article: “Shoot the P***s on the spot.”
Mr Bullock was chosen by the party to stand again in the Hulton ward, where he has been a councillor since 2019, even though he was previously suspended amid claims of Islamophobia.
In March 2020, he faced the disciplinary action after it was alleged an article from an anti-Muslim activist’s “JihadWatch” had been posted on his Facebook.
In response to an article about former party chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, he reportedly added: "She’s been a cuckoo in the nest!”
And in another post, from February 2015, he was shown to have shared a news article with the headline “Number of Muslim children in England and Wales doubles in a decade”, adding the comment “the clock is ticking”.
When approached by the Mirror, Conservative leader of Bolton Council Martyn Cox defended Mr Bullock.
He said: “It is a total fake. There is no truth in it at all. It is a complete fakerooney. I’m absolutely confident on it.”
But the Conservatives tonight confirmed it had kicked Mr Bullock out of the party.
A spokesman said: “Councillor Bullock has been expelled from the Conservative Party.”
Mr Bullock did not respond to a request for comment.
Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South East, said she was "absolutely disgusted by the deeply offensive" Facebook post.
"The decision of the Bolton Conservative Party to reselect Bullock is just another example of the disdain the party has for the Muslim community and the deeply rotten culture of Islamophobia which has been found to exist throughout the party," she said.
Ms Qureshi called on the Tories to "apologise for even contemplating his return to our town hall".
Voters will go to the polls on May 4. In total, 8,141 council seats are up for grabs in 230 councils across England.
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