A Conservative councillor in Nottinghamshire says he will be appealing a decision to expel him from the party after a Twitter account belonging to him was found to have liked 'explicit images'. It is claimed he was 'hacked'.
Nottinghamshire county councillor Nigel Turner, who represents Worksop South, was expelled from the Conservative Party at the beginning of May but the exact reason for this was not announced. In a Facebook post, posted on May 9, councillor Turner then sought to explain himself.
He claims a dormant Twitter account, belonging to himself, was hacked and explicit images were then 'liked'. The account has since been deleted.
Read more: Future of Victoria Centre market hangs in the balance
Councillor Turner said: "Following recent media and online speculation, I can confirm that I have been expelled from the Conservative Party. The expulsion is based around a dormant Twitter account, which was hacked, and explicit images liked.
"Since this issue came to light, I have been working with Twitter to establish how this account was hacked and to regain control over the account. With their help, I was able to regain control and remove the posts and delete the account.
"Following on from the initial complaint made to Conservative Central Headquarters (CCHQ), I suffered a period of ill health, which many of you are aware of. Due to these health issues, I was unable to fully respond to the investigators from CCHQ.
"This led, in my opinion, to this unfair outcome, my serious health concerns contributed to CCHQ making the wrong decision over this issue, as they were not in full possession of the facts, including my communications with Twitter."
At the time of his expulsion the Labour leader of Bassetlaw District Council, Simon Greaves, called for full 'transparency' as to why he was removed from the party. He said it was "not credible" for councillor Turner to "maintain a wall of silence".
In the Facebook statement councillor Turned added: "I am now working with my local association, the leadership at Nottinghamshire County Council, Bassetlaw’s Member of Parliament and my Conservative family in appealing this decision. I thank them for the support that my family and myself have received during this difficult time.
"Whilst, going through the appeal process, I will not be making any further comment. I will continue to serve the residents of Worksop South as your County Councillor, to support the leadership at Nottinghamshire County Council in delivery on the people’s priorities and look forward to re-joining the Conservative Group once I have cleared my name."
