Cancelled Councillor Cleared by Conservative Party After Anti-Pride Social Media Post

Suspended Tory councillor King Lawal (C) with supporters protesting outside the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Oct. 4, 2023. Courtesy of Christian Concern

A Conservative Christian councillor has been cleared by the Tories after he was removed by the party for writing “Pride is not a virtue but a Sin” on social media.

King Lawal, 31, had been a councillor at North Northamptonshire Unitary Council for two years but was suspended by the Conservative Party in 2023.

Following a six-month investigation, a Conservative Party disciplinary subcommittee rejected a complaint against Mr. Lawal and concluded that criticising the LGBT Pride movement was not “homophobic.”

On June 29, 2023 he wrote on social media platform X: “When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you. #PrideMonth #Pride23 #PrideParade.”

The post included an image with a verse from Isaiah 3 verse 9, which said, “Whatever God calls ‘Sin’ is nothing to be Proud of.”

Within hours of making the post, he was suspended from Northamptonshire Unitary Council and then dismissed as a trustee of Groundwork Northampton, an initiative that helps disadvantaged children access green spaces.

He was told that the membership governance team at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) was advising the council to suspend him and wanted the investigation to be centralised rather than local. He was told that a standards inquiry would also follow.

Refused to Drop the Complaint

Mr. Lawal, who has been supported by the Christian Legal Centre, was reinstated by a local Conservative group in October 2023, and restored to other board positions at the council.

CCHQ “refused to drop the complaint against him,” said the Christian Legal Centre.

In a written judgment sent to Mr. Lawal this week, the disciplinary subcommittee panel ruled that the complaint that he “allegedly misused or abused social media” was “not proven.”

It had been alleged that his post was “homophobic” and that “by posting this content [Mr. Lawal] has failed to sustain and [is] in conflict with the purpose, objects and values of the Conservative Party.”

Concluding its decision, the panel said that the panel “considers that it would be wrong to conflate an objection to the Pride movement as homophobic.”

The panel added that it recognises that his posts “are a representation of his religious beliefs, which he is free and entitled to hold. Accordingly, the posts, whilst they may be offensive to some, would on balance not to be considered by a reasonable and fair-minded observer to be discriminatory or homophobic per se.”

‘Immense Pressure’

Responding to the decision, Mr. Lawal said that he suspected that certain individuals “were pulling the strings and putting immense pressure” to suspend him.

“I appreciate the conclusions of the panel, but I am appalled that I was subjected to this investigation in the first place. For over six months I have had the cloud of this investigation hanging over me, even when the local group reinstated me,” he said.

“From the beginning CCHQ, or certain individuals there, were pulling the strings and putting immense pressure on the local group to suspend me. Publicly they distanced themselves from any involvement in that suspension while telling me that they were investigating me and that I had to keep that confidential,” he added.

He said that what he believed has happened to him “is a microcosm of what is coming under a potential Labour government, and how in many ways significant factions of the Conservative Party have turned their back on their own supporters and values.”

“How I have been treated is really troubling for a democratic society. It must ring alarm bells as this can now happen to anyone that is not in support of this extreme LGBT movement,” he said.

He said that the Bible “tells us that to live out a true Christian calling you have to pick up your Cross and that the world will hate you for standing for Him and truth. I am determined to continue to fight for justice and to clear my name and ensure that this does not happen to another person.”

He said that his ambition for the future is “to stand as an MP; this country and the Conservative Party especially, needs more passionate Christian leaders and politicians, not less.”

“It is time that the true voice of the majority of Christian was heard in Parliament,” he added.

The Epoch Times contacted CCHQ for comment.