A candidate for new centrist party Change UK has been forced to resign the same day as the party’s campaign launch, after he caused a race row with comments about “Romanian pickpockets”.

Ali Sadjady, a former Tory who was standing for the European parliament elections in London, was accused of joining in “hate speech” against EU citizens.

In a series of controversial tweets he had said he was tempted to support Brexit if it stopped Romanian pickpockets coming to the UK, and suggested that advocates of a second referendum did not “believe in democracy”.

“When I hear that 70% of pick pockets caught on the London Underground are Romanian it kind makes me want Brexit,” Mr Sadjady had said in a tweet from November 2017.

His social media profile also revealed other comments that could be regarded as derogatory to women.

It comes after the party’s launch as the Independent Group earlier this year was marred when one of its MPs, Angela Smith, caused uproar by describing people from ethnic minorities as having a “funny tinge” in a discussion about racism and skin colour on live TV. Ms Smith did not resign in that instance, but later apologised for having “misspoke”.

In another controversial tweet dating back to the aftermath of the EU referendum Mr Sadjady, a martial arts fighter, said: “Brexit is like dumping your girlfriend because she’s expensive and high maintenance and then realizing [sic] she’s pretty hot.”

But he appeared to have a change of heart about leaving the EU, later branding Mayor of London Sadiq Khan a “joke of a man” for advocating a second Brexit referendum.

Mr Sadjady speaking last year (Cllr Joy Morrissey/Twitter)

“Democracy was served – I voted Remain but stand by the vote cast because I believe in democracy,” he said in October 2018.

On an earlier occasion he said: “To those petitioning for a second EU referendum, don’t you believe in democracy or does it not apply when things don’t go your way?”

After the party was approached for comment the candidate locked his social media profile from public view.

An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Show all 20 1 /20 An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Maria, 31, holds her daughters, Elena, two, and baby Ioana, weeks old, in her London home A few months after Britain voted to leave the European Union, Maria was told her to go back to her native Romania whilst in hospital by an elderly English woman. “You are a foreigner, your place is not here” recalls Maria, who was stunned Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Maria and her husband Adi, 37, take their daughters for a walk in Hampstead Heath near their home The couple are preparing to leave Britain later this year with their two children, fed up with what Maria says is xenophobia and the rising cost of living in London Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Elena holds up British passports belonging to her and her sister. Both children have dual citizenship, but their parents do not want to apply for this despite having permanent residency in Britain Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Maria holds daughter Ioana, who is less than a week old, while Elena wipes a table Maria had never faced direct abuse over her nationality in her 10 years in the country until that moment at the hospital Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi spends time with his daughters Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi plays hide and seek with his daughter Elena Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Food is served Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi takes his daughter, Elena, to nursery Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi's sister, Nicoleta, 34, carries her niece Elena in a restaurant after a trip out Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi and Maria cook together at their home Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi holds his baby daughter, Ioana Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi and wife Maria take their daughters for a walk in Hampstead Heath Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Berwyn, a neighbour of the couple, who moved to the UK in the 1980s from Australia, says goodbye to Maria after a visit at her home. Berwyn has dual citizenship - Australian and Irish as she lived in Ireland for a few years before moving to Britain. She calls the family her 'dearest Christian Romanian friends' Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Religious pictures including a portrait of Arsenie Boca, a Romanian Orthodox monk, theologian and artist (top), hang on the wall at the home of Adi and Maria Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Maria dries Elena after giving her a bath after nursery Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Maria holds her baby daughter Ioana Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi works with his colleague Alexandru, who is also from Romania, for a removal company Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Maria holds her daughter Elena Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Neighbour, Berwyn, holds baby Ioana Reuters An immigrant's tale: Leaving Britain to escape Brexit hostility Adi and Maria, along with their daughters, leave St Andrews church in Kingsbury after attending a service Reuters

On Tuesday evening after The Independent reported Mr Sadjady’s comments, a spokesperson for Change UK said: “Following discussions, Ali Sadjady has reflected on his inappropriate tweet from 2017 and agreed to stand down from the list of potential candidates.”

Molly Scott Catto, a Green MEP said: “I’m shocked to read this negative stereotyping of EU citizens. It’s the job of Remain politicians to defend them against the hate speech and acts that have been on the rise since the EU referendum – not to join in.”

She added that the episode “demonstrates the risks of assembling a list of celebrity candidates without having time to know their values”.

“It underlines the extent to which Change UK is an empty prospectus: without a platform and with no idea which group they will sit with in the European parliament, how can they ask voters to choose their candidates?” she said.

Mr Sadjady cancelled his membership of the Conservative party in March, citing the party’s handling of Brexit and Islamophobia allegations against it.

He was unveiled as a candidate for Change UK to represent London on Tuesday in the upcoming European parliament elections.

Other candidates for the party include former BBC journalist Gavin Esler, the former conservative deputy prime minister of Poland Jacek Rostowski, and Rachel Johnson, a journalist who is also the sister of Boris Johnson.