Tory candidate dropped after saying she wanted to keep ‘the Aryan race going’

The Conservative party has dropped a local election candidate for telling a Jewish MP on social media that she wanted to “keep the Aryan race going”.

Sharon Thomason, who later proposed building a statue to the late anti-immigrant MP Enoch Powell, was deselected for her abusive message to Labour MP Charlotte Nichols on 29 February 2020.

The offensive tweet, sent after Nichols questioned of the timing of Boris Johnson’s engagement announcement, was shared with the Conservatives’ Warrington branch almost a year ago, leaving analysts asking why Tory HQ took so long to act.

“Warrington Conservatives condemns all forms of racism, including antisemitism, they have no place in our party,” a statement read. “The candidate in question will not be standing for the party at the local elections and is no longer a member.”

Nichols identifies as LGBT+ and converted to Reform Judaism in 2014, later becoming a member of the Jewish Labour Movement, despite having defended the party over antisemitism.