Tory candidate for Brentwood South resigns after tweeting that Islam was the “religion of rape”

A Conservative local election candidate who tweeted that it was good to be anti-Islam and that the Islam was the “religion of rape”, has had to resign just weeks after being chosen to represent the party in the Brentwood local elections.

David Bishop, who was due to stand as the Conservative candidate for the ward of Brentwood South, Essex, later this month, resigned yesterday after local press discovered anti-Islamic and homophobic tweets on his twitter account.

 

In a tweet posted just two days after being selected Bishop posted that Islam was the “religion of peace’ & rape”, after it was announced that four Muslim men had been arrested for the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

 

Initially, when questioned by The Brentwood Gazette about the tweets, Bishop has said that they had been posted to make such views look stupid.

 

He stated the following after handing in his resignation: “I recognise that someone standing for public office should show leadership and seek to unite communities, not divide them. I hope the residents of Brentwood South can forgive my lack of judgement in time.”

 

This was followed by a statement from Louise McKinlay, group leader of Brentwood Conservatives, which said that the views of Bishop had “no place in our team”.

 

Bishop’s inflammatory comments are on the same day when UKIP announced that they would be suspending one of their election candidates after he made similar comments on twitter. Harry Perry, who was seeking election in the Offerton ward in Stockport, was suspended by the party after tweeting that Islam was “evil” and homosexuality was an “abomination before god.”.

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