Stockport Conservative councillor expelled from party over retweets

A Tory councillor who retweeted claims that mosques had "secret arsenals" and immigration was "cultural suicide" has been expelled from the party.

A Conservative representative said her retweets were "in conflict" with party values "and will not be tolerated".

Ms Vine has declined to comment on the decision to expel her from the party.

Fellow Tory councillor Oliver Johnstone, who is deputy leader of the council's Conservative group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Ms Vine had been found to have "endorsed and promoted" views which were "wholly unacceptable and incompatible" with her membership of the party.

"It is therefore right and proper that Councillor Vine has been permanently expelled from the party and the Stockport Conservative group," he said.

In a statement, the party representative said Ms Vine had been "expelled from the party over social media posts which were deemed discriminatory towards those of the Islamic faith".

"Posting such content is in conflict with the values of the Conservative Party and will not be tolerated," they added.

Ms Vine, who has represented Bramhall North since 2011, was suspended after sharing a string of contentious tweets on her Twitter account.

She was previously a regional director of the World Wide Fund for Nature before retraining and working as a magistrate for several years.

Her expulsion reduces the number of Conservative councillors at the authority to four.