A local Conservative candidate has been dropped by his party just before the election over “discriminatory” comments and coronavirus vaccine misinformation shared on social media. Paris Coulson, aged 19, is standing for election on behalf of the Conservative Party in the Long Eaton Central Ward on Erewash Borough Council.
Mr Coulson would now sit as an independent if elected, after being suspended by his party when it was made aware of controversial social media posts crossing various different topics, including Covid vaccine misinformation, Derbyshire Live reports. He has made clear he has no regrets about comments made in these posts, except for the way some were worded.
Mr Poulson was suspended on April 26, just eight days before the election on May 4. The Conservatives hoping to retain control of the borough council. He will remain listed as a Conservative Party candidate on the ballot due to the late time at which he was suspended, but his party has dropped all affiliation and has started an investigation which could see him expelled.
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Mr Paulson was one of three Conservative Party candidates in Long Eaton Central, going up against three Labour candidates. The party no longer lists him as a candidate on the Erewash Conservative Association website.
However, Mr Coulson does still appear in photos alongside Conservative Party candidates on the Derby Conservatives Facebook page, the Erewash Conservatives Facebook page and the Sinfin & Osmaston Conservative Team Facebook page. In these images, he appears alongside Chris Poulter, leader of the Derby Conservatives and city council; Garry Hickton, Erewash Borough Council lead member for the environment; and Paul Maginnis, the borough’s lead member for health and wellbeing.
On his Twitter profile, Mr Coulson lists himself as a “British patriot”, who is “pro-free speech” and “on the right side of history”, also listing himself as a “media personality”. Since his suspension, Mr Coulson has posted a series of tweets and shared posts about a conspiracy theory.
On April 26, detailing his suspension, Mr Coulson wrote: “I was suspended by the Conservative Party for voicing my opinions on social media. I am a 19-year-old candidate standing in the upcoming local elections. I have opinions like anyone else but I’m being punished for doing so.
“My freedom of speech is being stood on. Sad. The media has attacked me for supporting the Tate brothers. As it stands the pair are still innocent after months of investigations & are still yet to be proven guilty. Since watching the Tates my mental strength is better than ever before.”
Andrew Tate, a controversial influencer, and his brother Tristan were arrested in December on allegations of suspected human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The brothers deny these allegations and remain under house arrest in Bucharest.
Mr Coulson continued: “I have also been targeted for supporting YouTuber Hamza. I’m still not sure why as he promotes men’s mental and physical health. The lack of strong men is playing a huge part in the collapse of Western society.” YouTuber Hamza offers a £400 online course promising to help men feel “ready to dominate”.
Mr Coulson said: “I never thought that at the age of 19, I’d be attacked by the media for exposing the past three years of lies. I will continue to be a voice of many in the fight against the globalists.” He later continued: “This Wednesday I was suspended from the Conservative Party for exposing the vaccine lies and for voicing my support for men’s mental health YouTuber Hamza. Freedom of speech is dead. #BrokenBritain #Conservatives #CancelCulture ”
Mr Coulson wrote on Facebook: “I want to make this clear I do not regret anything I have said in my past, only how I’ve maybe gone about wording what I have said. My freedom of speech has been attacked & torn apart. I am incredibly disappointed with the Erewash Conservative Association who have been utterly spineless in their approach to this.
“I will continue to fight like a lion for the silent majority across the nation and bring these corrupt politicians to justice. All in good time the journey is only just beginning.” Cllr Tony King, chairman of the Erewash Conservative Association, wrote on April 26 that Mr Coulson had been suspended with immediate effect and was no longer endorsed as an election candidate.
Cllr King, who is also a Derbyshire County Council cabinet member, said: “Following a number of social media posts that were brought to the attention of our association’s executive committee yesterday evening (April 25) the decision has been taken to immediately suspend Mr Coulson as a member of the Conservative Party. The association has now opened a full disciplinary investigation into the comments made by Mr Coulson, which is the first step to expelling him from the party.
“This means that Mr Coulson will no longer be endorsed by the Conservative Party or the Erewash Conservative Association as a candidate for the borough council elections on May 4. I trust that the speed at which we have acted to deal with this matter demonstrates that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated by our party.”
Cllr Carol Hart, leader of the borough council heading into the elections and also a county council cabinet member, said: “The Erewash Conservative Council Group is immensely proud of its diverse and inclusive membership, and we wholeheartedly condemn anyone who seeks to discriminate against others or who distributes false propaganda online. As soon as I was made aware of Mr Coulson’s comments, I acted swiftly, in consultation with Cllr King and Maggie Throup MP, to ensure that his party membership was suspended, and he could no longer stand as a Conservative candidate.
“Our record in rooting out this type of behaviour speaks for itself, and I want to assure residents that, as leader of the Conservative group, I will always challenge prejudice of any kind, regardless of party loyalties.”
Erewash MP Maggie Throup said: “As the former Vaccines Minister, I am acutely aware of the threat that Covid misinformation poses to the public and condemn anyone who pushes this type of baseless propaganda online. Whilst ultimately decisions regarding the vetting of local government candidates and the disciplinary action taken against party members, are a matter for the Erewash Conservative Association, the comments made by Mr Coulson are wholly unacceptable.
“I am clear that anyone holding the kind of views expressed by Mr Coulson is not welcome in the Conservative Party, and so I am pleased that Cllr King and Cllr Hart have acted at the earliest opportunity to suspend his membership with immediate effect.”
This is not the first time a Derbyshire council election candidate has been suspended too late for their represented party to be scrapped and changed to “independent” or a different party. In April 2019, then-Labour candidate Neil Ploughman was suspended from the Labour Party over anti-Semitic social media posts.
He remained listed as a Labour candidate on the ballot and was elected as an Amber Valley borough councillor for the Belper Central ward, sitting as an independent. Mr Ploughman was later reinstated into the Labour Party before leaving to sit as a Socialist councillor and is now running as an election candidate for the newly formed Belper Independents.
Here is the full list of candidates for the Long Eaton Central ward on Erewash Borough Council, with three councillors to be elected:
- Joel Bryan – Labour Party
- Shaun Burton – Conservative Party
- Paris Coulson – Conservative Party
- Becca Everett – Labour Party
- Curtis Howard – Labour Party
- Kathleen Makin – Conservative Party
The election takes place on Thursday, May 4 and voters are required to bring photo identification in order to cast their ballot.
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