Rosemary Carroll suspended over racist joke then hastily reinstated to tip balance of power on council

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A former Conservative councillor who shared a racist joke but was readmitted to the party so that it could take control of a Lancashire council could face a new investigation, the business secretary, Greg Clark, had said.

Conservatives in Pendle were accused of cynicism after it emerged that Rosemary Carroll had been brought back into the party fold after Thursday’s local election to give them a one-seat majority.

Carroll was suspended from the council for three months last June after sharing a joke on Facebook that compared Asian people to dogs. She sat on the council as an independent after the suspension.

At the local election count, however, she was seen wearing a Conservative rosette, and when the results gave the Tories 24 seats, the same as Labour and the Lib Dems combined, it emerged she had been readmitted, breaking the deadlock.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rosemary Carroll. Photograph: Pendle Conservatives/Facebook

Carroll, who was elected in 2016, was not among the councillors who needed to stand again this year.

The decision prompted condemnation from Labour and activist groups.

Asked about it on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, Clark said: “I haven’t seen that, but I have seen the reports of it, and it seems to me that if they are the views of this person, she has no place in the Conservative party, and I’m sure the party authorities will have to investigate that.”

Asked what could happen, he said: “If they are her views then they are incompatible with the Conservative party, but it is for the party authorities to investigate that.”

The Conservative chair, Brandon Lewis, had tweeted praise for the local party on Friday:



Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) Super result for the fantastic team in Pendle @Andrew4Pendle #conservativesdeliver #canyouseeyourself pic.twitter.com/F0gY16qHeS

Speaking on Sunday, Lewis said he would look at the case, but seemed to indicate that Carroll’s reinstatement was not necessarily a problem.

“Her position has been from the very beginning that she accidentally posted something that she wanted to delete,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday show.

Carroll had been suspended by the party but had later taken diversity training, he said: “She’s been through training, she’s apologised, she’s had punishment. This was all dealt with locally at the time. I am going to be having a look at this.”

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said there must be immediate action.

He told Andrew Marr: “To have the Conservative party take control of the council by reinstating a councillor who used the foulest racist joke is unacceptable.

“I want Theresa May to say now to Brandon Lewis, who congratulated those councillors, first of all to apologise and suspend that councillor again. It’s unacceptable.”

Mohammed Iqbal, the leader of the Labour group in Pendle, said the situation was appalling. “She turned up with a Conservative rosette literally as the votes were being counted,” he said.

The Conservative leader on the council, Paul White, said Carroll’s post had been shared in error and that she had apologised and taken diversity training.