Tory candidate suspended over homophobic and antisemitic comments

If there's one thing the last few years should have taught us, it's that your old online activity can come back to haunt you.

23-year-old George Stoakley, a Conservative candidate for a South Cambridgeshire ward in the upcoming council election, discovered this recently when a series of his old antisemitic, homophobic and pro-gun tweets were discovered by eagle-eyed Twitter users.

Twitter/@georgecstoakley

He has since been suspended.

Not only did he joke about "sweating like a Jew in an attic", he also described AIDs as "weaponised semen" and used the term "faggot" as an insult.

Stoakley is just one of several Conservative political candidates whose campaigns have been derailed by their online presence.

A few weeks ago, Hillary Su - bidding to represent a ward which includes London's historic gay hub Soho - referenced Tim Farron's comments that gay sex is 'immoral' in a tweet which read: 'The right to private life, however immoral, is what free society offers - so long [as] it doesn't interfere with others or break laws'.

She also claimed that Farron, who stepped down after his remarks sparked backlash, had failed to 'defend his faith'.

Su later clarified that she doesn't judge anyone on their relationships - despite the judgement inherent to the term 'immoral' - and claimed she was proud of the Conservative party's record on equality.

This is despite the fact Thatcher's Tory government enforced the notoriously homophobic Section 28 legislation, which led to widespread discrimination and the frequent dismissal of LGBT+ schoolteachers.

Her words seem to be in reference to David Cameron's legalisation of same-sex marriage - a bill which was predominantly opposed by Conservative candidates.

Yesterday also saw Conservative council candidate Matthew Clarke suspended after writing a blog post - under an alias, naturally - which claimed that same-sex couples are "wrong and disgusting". He then stated that the Bible has only one such penalty for such deeds: death.

All in all, not the best few weeks for local Tory candidates.

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