A Tory councillor, who was suspended in July after tweeting ‘Pride is not a virtue but a sin’, has been reinstated after an investigation into alleged misconduct by the local council standards committee.
King Lawal (see photo), a North Northamptonshire councillor – who is still reportedly under investigation by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) – was also ‘cancelled’ by several other organisations after expressing his Biblical beliefs on social media.
Following his suspension, Lawal was preparing to take legal action; and 27,777 people had signed a petition called for the Conservative Party chair to ensure he was reinstated.
In October, Lawal went to the Conservative Party conference to raise awareness of his case. He said both ordinary party members and MPs were ‘shocked and disturbed that I would be suspended for expressing my Christian beliefs’.
He was eventually reinstated at a full council meeting on 25 October. Lawal told the meeting his tweets were an expression of his Christian faith by quoting passages from the Bible. He said he had not intended to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: ‘This is one step on the road to justice for King Lawal. Sanity in this part of King’s case has thankfully prevailed. He is an excellent local politician whose motivation is to help and serve others.’
She added that what happened to Lawal was ‘a clear case of viewpoint discrimination against a standard expression of Christian belief.
Social justice, political differences & the church
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