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Tory election hopeful Kate Griffiths' stance on Brexit has been called into question after a photograph taken three years ago resurfaced.

Mrs Griffiths, who is contesting the Burton seat in the General Election, recently posted on Facebook saying she voted leave in the EU referendum.

But a picture posted by estranged husband and former Burton MP Andrew on the day of the referendum more than three years ago has caused people to question how she voted.

The picture, which has been circulating on social media, shows the then-couple outside a polling booth, with Mr Griffiths wearing a t-shirt carrying with the words "Conservatives in". Mrs Griffiths is not wearing the t-shirt in the picture.

His post included the words: "Because jobs and futures depend on it, we have just voted to remain in the EU. Safer, stronger, better off. Vote remain."

When asked to explain the apparent contradiction between the two posts, Mrs Griffiths maintained she had voted leave.

She said: "If you look at the photo, I wasn't particularly happy about that photo being taken. Andrew didn't ask me how I had voted."

When asked why she didn't come out sooner and say she had voted leave, she said: "When you are an MP's wife you have to bite your tongue.

"I definitely voted to leave. I had no control over Andrew's social media posts."

Mr Griffiths said: "If Kate says she voted to leave then she must have.

"Nobody knows what happens in the privacy of the voting booth, but the news of Kate's long-held belief in Brexit will come as welcome surprise to many people."

Intrigue surrounds Burton General Election seat

Mr Griffiths had been due to stand for re-election, but stepped away from the race when Mrs Griffiths announced her intention to run against him.

Had he stood and been successful, it would have resulted in him sitting for a fourth consecutive term. He last won in 2017 with a 10,000 majority.

However, it emerged in 2018 he had sent a series of sexually explicit texts to two barmaids.

He resigned as small business smaller ahead of the revelations in The Mirror, apologised and said he was suffering from mental health problems at the time.

Last month, Mrs Griffiths was adopted as the East Staffordshire Conservative Association's General Election candidate.

Mrs Griffiths and Mrs Walker will go head-to-head with the Green Party's Kate Copeland and Liberal Democrat Adam Wain when the public go to the ballot box on Thursday, December 12.