Tory politician who called two female Labour MPs ‘vile’ stands down

Brown denied being a misogynist.

Last June, Brown posted “You really are vile” to Labour MP for Coventry, Zarah Sultana.

He also posted “vile woman” to the former shadow secretary of state for Women and Equalities, Labour’s Dawn Butler, after she tweeted about the Black Lives Matter campaign.

Brown has since locked his Twitter account and says he will no longer stand as a candidate.

In a statement issued overnight, Brown said: “Following a period of reflection I have decided that I no longer wish to stand for election to the Isle of Wight Council, as the Conservative candidate for Ryde West.

“The Conservative Party on the Island is doing a great deal of good work and has a host of excellent candidates for the upcoming election, including some exciting young men and women and I do not want this to become an unnecessary distraction for them or to detract from that excellent work.”

Brown accepts his words “may have been construed in a similar incendiary way, or worse, misconstrued as something which they were not intended to be”.

“I do not consider myself to be a misogynist in any way and take offence at the notion that I am,” he added.

“I do however apologise if that is how it has been interpreted. 

“When someone took the time to look through my tweets they seem to have been selective in what they decided to share and missed several that show nothing but support and admiration for women, both in politics and the wider working world, including a recent tweet celebrating international women’s day.

“I will now look to devote my time to helping my community in other ways.”