Tory candidate being investigated after saying sorry for ‘Jew boy’ post
Darran Davies, the Conservative hopeful in Charville ward by-election in Hillingdon, shared an offensive Facebook post
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
A Conservative election candidate has “shown deep regret”, said party bosses, over a social media post in which he used the term “Jew Boy” to refer to a friend, writes Lee Harpin.
Darran Davies, the Tory hopeful in the 6 May Charville ward by-election in Hillingdon, west London, shared on Facebook the offensive post, which featured an image of a male along with the words: “Wanted Jew Boy Reward $100.” He circulated the message on his personal page and wrote: “Guys have you seen this bloke.”
Among the comments under the October 2016 Facebook post from Davies was an acknowledgement from a Mr Richard Stevens that the message was directed to him after he had not been seen for a while at a pub in which a group of friends congregated.
Stevens’ Facebook page is littered with extreme postings against Muslims, including a threat to commit actual violence against people of Somalian heritage. In one post, Stevens wrote: “Why don’t you f*** off… That’s wot was said to me tonight when I said Muslims are racist.”
In February 2017, the Hayes Conservative Club member shared another post, which featured a clip of a video by American anti-immigration campaigner Roy Howard Beck, whom The Washington Post has previously described as an “eccentric figure whose views some consider xenophobic or even racist”.
Ian Edwards, Hillingdon Council’s Conservative group leader, told Jewish News: “The posting … relates to the use of an inappropriate nickname among friends. Although the comment was inappropriate and below the standards expected of a Conservative member this has been resolved by admonishing Mr Davies and reinforcing with him the standards expected of persons seeking to represent Hillingdon Conservatives.
“Mr Davies has shown deep regret for his lack of judgment and has apologised.”
But Jewish Labour Movement national chair Mike Katz said Davies’ social media posts “are incredibly offensive and deeply inappropriate for anyone seeking an elected position”.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said yesterday: “We are investigating the matter.”
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