The Conservatives have been drawn into a "racism and sexism" row after a Tory councillor appeared to launch a racist message at his Reform UK challenger's wife.
Tory councillor Mike Introna had been discussing Reform candidate Andrew McCallum in a WhatsApp group chat - where he labelled him "ageist" and "anti-disabled", screenshots shared with GB News appear to show.
Introna, who has served as a county councillor for Retford East since 2021, then received a reply from fellow Tory district councillor David Bamford saying: "His wife followed my councillor page tonight... Blocked her."
Introna then replied: "She reported an empty bin on Facebook, for f***'s sake. His TikTok bride."
McCallum's wife, Jitnida Chanya, is from Thailand - and as a result, the county councillor has been accused of both racism and sexism.
The Tories have been urged to take action - not least, because Nottinghamshire County Council leader Sam Smith was in the same WhatsApp group.
A Reform UK spokesman told GB News: "This sexism and racism is unacceptable. The Conservative Party must take action very quickly."
It comes just a few months after the same Mike Introna had seen another WhatsApp conversation come to light - in which he appeared to joke about putting a "knife to the throat" of a female colleague.
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In that conversation, said to date back to 2022, one group member had written about county councillor Tracey Taylor: "Could I suggest a fundraiser? TT in the stocks and rotten tomatoes to throw at a £1 per bag??"
Another member replied: "I would end up with no wages left", to which another retorted: "You and most of us too."
Then, Introna wrote: "Just a knife to her throat. I'll put £20 in."
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At the time, he told NottinghamshireLive: "I could draw you that up in five minutes. I don't know why people do these things, I don't know why people have to be so low.
"I'm not commenting on stuff like this, it's nonsense. If you look at my record of what I do in my community, for people to put stuff out like this is just unfair."
A Conservative Party spokesman told GB News: "The Conservative Party has an established code of conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence.
"This process is rightly confidential."
Find Out More...
Tory councillor Mike Introna had been discussing Reform candidate Andrew McCallum in a WhatsApp group chat - where he labelled him "ageist" and "anti-disabled", screenshots shared with GB News appear to show.
Introna, who has served as a county councillor for Retford East since 2021, then received a reply from fellow Tory district councillor David Bamford saying: "His wife followed my councillor page tonight... Blocked her."
Introna then replied: "She reported an empty bin on Facebook, for f***'s sake. His TikTok bride."
McCallum's wife, Jitnida Chanya, is from Thailand - and as a result, the county councillor has been accused of both racism and sexism.
The Tories have been urged to take action - not least, because Nottinghamshire County Council leader Sam Smith was in the same WhatsApp group.
A Reform UK spokesman told GB News: "This sexism and racism is unacceptable. The Conservative Party must take action very quickly."
It comes just a few months after the same Mike Introna had seen another WhatsApp conversation come to light - in which he appeared to joke about putting a "knife to the throat" of a female colleague.
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In that conversation, said to date back to 2022, one group member had written about county councillor Tracey Taylor: "Could I suggest a fundraiser? TT in the stocks and rotten tomatoes to throw at a £1 per bag??"
Another member replied: "I would end up with no wages left", to which another retorted: "You and most of us too."
Then, Introna wrote: "Just a knife to her throat. I'll put £20 in."
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At the time, he told NottinghamshireLive: "I could draw you that up in five minutes. I don't know why people do these things, I don't know why people have to be so low.
"I'm not commenting on stuff like this, it's nonsense. If you look at my record of what I do in my community, for people to put stuff out like this is just unfair."
A Conservative Party spokesman told GB News: "The Conservative Party has an established code of conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence.
"This process is rightly confidential."
Find Out More...