A politician suspended for retweeting a post from a 'far right' party has left the Conservatives and spoken out on his fate saying "let he who is without sin cast the first stone".
Kevin Bulmer, who now sits as an Independent county councillor for Goring, has left the Conservative party all together after he was criticised for retweeting a post from the Britain First party in March.
This post referred to an “Islamist squatter”, who it said wanted to “invade us and replace our culture with savagery”.
The councillor was also criticised in February 2023 after he aimed an outspoken social media post at the Church of England calling them "woke muppets" and "t***s" regarding reforms around gendered language.
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He was suspended from the Conservative group following the "Islamist squatter" retweet in March, with Oxfordshire party leader Eddie Reeves saying an investigation was "under way".
But as of May 16 Mr Bulmer is no longer a member of the party.
Speaking to us, the Goring representative said: "I stepped down as I wasn't happy with the way I was treated by the Conservative party.
"It was my decision to resign. I got the impression I was just a nuisance to them and they wanted me to go away.
"It was totally unfair - for one mistake it was ridiculous - one inadvertent mistake.
"I've been on the county council for a considerable time - over 11 years - whatever you've done in the past doesn't seem to matter in the slightest.
"You can do 1,000 things well and nobody cares - you make one mistake and you're buried alive."
Conservative leader on the county council, Eddie Reeves, has spoken out in the aftermath of the decision.
Mr Reeves said: "Councillor Bulmer was suspended as a Conservative councillor on March 4, pending the outcome of a Conservative party disciplinary panel hearing, which concluded on May 16.
“The panel comprised three senior members of the party assisted by an independent legal assessor.
"The process was fair, rigorous and robust, and I am content with its conclusions, which are confidential between councillor Bulmer and the Conservative Party.
“The Conservative Party expects the highest standards of personal conduct from its councillors. Councillor Bulmer failed to meet those standards and is no longer a Conservative councillor.
"Councillor Bulmer has a right of appeal to the panel’s decision and has decided not to avail himself of that right.”
Speaking of the Green and Liberal Democrats reaction to the tweet, Mr Bulmer said: "I think they were a disgrace. They jumped on an issue that was nothing to do with them.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. That seemed to go right past that lot.
"They were just trying to make political capital out of it which is what liberals do."
Britain First campaigns on an anti-immigration message and in 2018 its leader Paul Golding and deputy leader Jayda Fransen were jailed for religiously aggravated harassment.
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About the author
Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county.
She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.
Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi
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