'Fundamentally racist' radio caller slammed by local constituency party

The man, who introduced himself as Jerry from Lowestoft, phoned in to Sangita Myska's LBC show on Saturday to declare his support for Boris Johnson in the Conservative leadership race - before the ex-PM announced he would not be standing.

Jerry, who said he was a Tory party member and his father was a former constituency chairman, said "these things matter" when asked if his opposition to Rishi Sunak was the colour of his skin.

Ex-PM Boris Johnson announced he would not run in the leadership contest on Sunday night (Image: Archant)

Waveney Conservatives' political agent Mark Bee condemned the comments as "puerile".

Jerry claimed Mr Sunak would not win the next general election as "he's not even British" and "doesn't love England like Boris does".

Ms Myska challenged the caller, saying Mr Sunak was born in Southampton and attended "one of the country's most prestigious public schools" - as well as the fact Mr Johnson was born in New York.

Jerry, who claimed to be saying "what Tory voters believe", then went on to claim "half of Al-Qaeda" were British citizens, adding "having a British passport does not mean you're a true British patriot who loves England".

When challenged further, he said there was nothing the former chancellor could do to convince him of his love for the country.

After more than six minutes of debate, Ms Myska asked: "Is the real problem here Jerry, that Rishi Sunak is a brown man and you don't trust him at the top of this country?"

Jerry said: "Could you imagine him going to the Scottish nationalists and being their prime minister? Could you imagine me being the prime minister of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia?

"No, these things matter, sorry you don't like it.

"We're talking about England. 85pc of English people are white English people and they want to see a prime minister who reflects them."

Jerry then claimed Ms Myska, who labelled the caller as "fundamentally racist", had "twisted" his words when she asked if the reason he wouldn't endorse Mr Sunak was because of the colour of his skin.

Mark Bee, political agent for Waveney Conservatives, said the group had "no idea" who the caller was, but condemned his claims.

He said: "Peter [Aldous, Waveney MP] brought the video to my attention and I think Jerry's comments were ridiculously offensive and puerile.

"They were typical of that wing of politics but we do not tolerate that.

"He is not someone we are familiar with, and I am not aware he is connected to any of the chairmen I have known here in Waveney.

"We don't know his surname and we don't know if Jerry is even his real name."

Mr Sunak was confirmed as Tory leader on Monday and is due to be confirmed as PM today after meeting with the King.