Conservatives' Harlow victory depends on councillor suspended for alleged Islamophobia

Rishi Sunak on Friday hailed a narrow win for the Conservatives in Harlow Council - but their one-seat majority depends on a councillor who has been suspended by the party for alleged Islamophobia.

James Leppard, the Tory councillor for Church Langley South and Potter Street ward in the Essex authority, was suspended last month after the group Hope Not Hate revealed anti-Muslim posts by him.

In one post on Facebook from 2020, he allegedly said of Muslims: “We really don’t need them here. They add nothing.” He also allegedly “liked” comments on a Facebook group where London Mayor Sadiq Khan was called a “c***” and calls were made to remove mosques from Britain.

While acknowledging a difficult set of local elections elsewhere, the PM extolled results from Thursday which showed the Tories hanging on to a slender majority over Labour of 17 to 16 councillors in Harlow.

Mr Sunak pointed to “Harlow for example, where Keir Starmer held a rally just on Wednesday saying that was a place that he had to win to be on track to win a general election”. He stressed: “That hasn’t happened.”

The apparent Tory victory in Harlow marred Labour successes elsewhere in the Home Counties. But the count only works if Mr Leppard is included as a sitting Conservative, despite his suspension.

Without him, the Council is deadlocked 16-16 between the Tories and Labour. No other parties are represented.

“The Conservative Party’s handling of such cases reveals a disturbing leniency towards Islamophobia,” Georgie Laming of Hope Not Hate said.

“Their rush to reinstate individuals accused of spreading hate speaks volumes about their priorities when it comes to maintaining power versus tackling worrying levels of hate.”

A Conservative Party spokesman told the Standard: "We are looking into these claims.”

Cllr Leppard and Harlow’s Tory Leader Cllr Dan Swords were contacted for comment.