A Conservative parish councillor, set to stand in a second local seat next week, has been slammed and accused of making sexist, racist and homophobic jokes on his public social media accounts.
Glenn Tingle, the current Tory vice-chairman at Old Catton Parish Council, is standing for Sprowston Town Council's South East Ward by-election next Thursday.
Mr Tingle, who is also the chair of the Sprowston and Old Catton conservative branch, has made a series of posts across his social media channels that have been branded 'disgusting' by a Labour district councillor.
He has not returned our repeated calls for an explanation.
Mr Tingle’s posts include;
- Repeated suggestions that women cannot drive, one after a crash at the 2021 Formula W series.
- A picture of a black man hugging a larger white woman with the caption “When you really want that UK Passport”.
- A Facebook post implying all women have mental health problems and need medical treatment.
- And a post that called for England’s black footballers to “get on one knee and beg the nation for forgiveness” after the Euro final.
These sit alongside comments implying asylum seekers are a “swarm of would-be terrorists,” that women in “Liberal Germany” only get jobs because they’re women rather than on merit and a joke about condoms going past a gay bar.
Mr Tingle, a former UKIP parliamentary candidate, has form for making incendiary comments, in 2010 when asked what should be done about nuclear weapons programmes in Iran, Mr Tingle responded "We should blow them up first".
Labour Broadland district councillor Natasha Harpley said the posts are “simply disgusting”.
“It’s really offensive - some of the things he has posted go against laws the conservatives promote around mental health and stigma.”
Ms Harpley said Mr Tingle's comments were especially inappropriate having been made on his public "Cllr Glenn Tingle" Facebook account.
“When you are in a public position you should be leading by example and representing all your constituents.
"I'm proud to represent Sprowston, so am very disappointed to see that the local Conservatives have let down the people of Sprowston South East by selecting such a woefully unsuitable candidate to stand for election there."
Mr Tingle did not respond when approached for comment despite repeated attempts.
Simon Jones, chairman of the Norwich Conservative Federation, said he was unaware of Mr Tingle's posts and that if there were inappropriate comments he would discuss that with him.
He said Mr Tingle cares about his local area and its people.
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