Portsmouth councillor suspended from Tory party denied place on Kings theatre trust board

A PORTSMOUTH councillor who was suspended from the Tory party over alleged racist social media posts has been blocked from a position on a theatre trust board.
Cllr Linda Symes was suspended from the Tory party in June.

Picture: Sarah Standing (141517-6245)Cllr Linda Symes was suspended from the Tory party in June.

Picture: Sarah Standing (141517-6245)
Cllr Linda Symes was suspended from the Tory party in June. Picture: Sarah Standing (141517-6245)

Recently independent Councillor Linda Symes had been nominated by her former party to replace Tory Cllr Luke Stubbs on the Kings Theatre trust board.

However, during a virtual cabinet meeting yesterday Lib Dem councillor Steve Pitt objected to the nomination.

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Councillor suspended from the Tory party
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Cllr Pitt said: ‘Until that situation is resolved I don't think that we should be appointing someone to an outside body that is a charitable trust. So once it is resolved I'm very happy to review the situation but until it is resolved I don't feel it is appropriate or fair to the Kings Theatre.'

Cllr Symes was suspended from the Conservative Party in June after sharing controversial posts on Facebook and liking a Tweet on Twitter.

Two of her posts referenced the murder of soldier Lee Rigby as well as seven-year-old Emily Jones, asking why there were no riots over their deaths. Another stated: 'Because of his ethnicity Khan (Sadiq) will remain Mayor.’

The council received 39 code of conduct complaints in June for Cllr Symes from an individual tweet she made. A council spokesman said: ‘The members code of conduct is engaged and the complaints are following that process.’

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When asked about her suspension a Conservative Party spokeswoman said: ‘The investigations are ongoing.’

An online petition to suspend Cllr Symes was made with more than 4,000 signatures.

In the same month the council received four code of conduct complaints for Progressive Portsmouth People group leader Cllr Claire Udy from a Facebook comment she made.

After setting her cover photo as a picture of a vandalised Winston Churchill statue branding him ‘a racist’ more than 1,800 people signed a petition calling on her to be removed from the council.

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Cllr Udy said: 'I will not comment about ongoing investigations into my conduct but it is expected when I call out racism. It makes people uncomfortable when I challenge them.'

In April Cllr Lee Mason was suspended from the Conservative Party after posting a picture of a hot cross bun with an alleged swastika baked into it on social media.

The council’s representation on the Kings Theatre board will remain as Lib Dem Cllr Hugh Mason and Tory Cllr Luke Stubbs

Cllr Symes was approached for comment.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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