Sandwell Tories suspend Laured Kalari over Rayner tweet

Laured Kalari said the tweets did not come from his account

A Conservative councillor has been suspended over a series of abusive social media posts aimed at deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner among others.

Laured Kalari, who was leading the Tory group at Labour-run Sandwell Council, has categorically denied being behind the tweets posted in 2020 and 2021.

He said they came from a fake account, and he was a victim of a bid to undermine him.

The messages have since been deleted.

Nicola Richards, Tory MP for West Bromwich East, said she was "shocked" at the content.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that one message abused the grieving friends of murder victim Sarah Everard, with further derogatory comments made about Ms Rayner and a Muslim woman whose hijab was mocked.

In a statement, Mr Kalari said he would be seeking legal advice as well as contacting police and Twitter.

The councillor for Rowley had replaced former Conservative group leader David Fisher who was forced to resign over offensive social media posts.

Mr Kalari's suspension was confirmed by the Sandwell Conservative Federation which said it was investigating the posts. The council's Tory group will instead be led by Archer Williams.

"Sandwell Conservatives does not condone any racism, misogynistic or offensive comments and will continue to work with community groups to ensure that everybody has a home in the Conservative Party," group chairman Connor Jones said.

'Views are abhorrent'

Mr Kalari's statement explained: "It has recently come to my attention that a number of historic tweets have come to light, claiming to have originated from my Twitter account.

"I categorically deny that these were written by me and the views expressed, which are abhorrent, are not the ones I hold."

His statement maintained "the handle" on the tweets "did not match the handle on my verified account".

Sandwell Council is awaiting a decision by the government as to whether commissioners will be brought in to help run it.

A recent audit found evidence of poor behaviour and a lack of trust across the organisation which has seen six different leaders in as many years and a number of misconduct allegations made against councillors.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said when he visited the council recently there had to be change at the authority, but its leaders knew what needed to be done.

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