The Gollywog meme that Lynn Sterry shared (Picture: Facebook)

A senior Labour councillor has given her support to a campaign to ‘Bring Back the Golliwog’.

Lynn Sterry, chair of the Standards Committee at Forest of Dean district council, shared a Facebook post calling for the return of the toys.

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Golliwogs – black-skinned dolls with exaggerated red lips and frizzy hair, which are designed to look like minstrels – are now widely regarded as racist.

Cllr Sterry claimed she shared the post innocently, after being reminded of a childhood toy – but many said that, given her role upholding professional and ethical standards at her council, she should have been well aware of how offensive the doll is.


Lynn Sterry insists that she is not racist

Commenters – including fellow councillors – immediately flooded the post writing ‘LYNN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????’ and ‘Let’s not do that’.

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But Cllr Sterry responded: ‘It was an innocent, personal childhood memory, that’s all, and now they are trying to make me out as racist and ruin my integrity.



‘Like many girls I had a golliwog doll for Christmas, but racism did not feature in my upbringing at all.

‘Golliwogs to me do not reflect racism. My doll was a wonderful toy that I regarded as my friend and did not represent anything else.

The dolls are now widely regarded as racist (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

‘If people today see that as an insult of race, then I understand that, but when I had my Golly it never was. I loved my Golly and I was sharing my own personal memory from early childhood. Nothing more, nothing less. I am very upset at this.’

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In 2011, two prospective councillors – Bill Etheridge and his then-wife Star Anderton – were suspended from the Tory party after posting photos of themselves with golliwogs, saying they wanted to promote ‘healthy debate’ about whether the dolls were racist.

They subsequently resigned and joined Ukip, and Bill was elected an MEP.

A spokeswoman for Forest of Dean District Council told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are dismayed at the comments made by Cllr Lynn Sterry and wish to confirm that this in no way represents the views of the Forest of Dean District Council. The Monitoring Officer is dealing with this as a matter of priority today.’

UPDATE: Cllr Lynn Sterry has now resigned from her position.