The Green Party have said their former candidate in the Makerfield by-election has apologised after a report that he had shared a post calling an attack on Jewish ambulances in north London a “false flag”.
Chris Kennedy was announced to be running in the seat for the Greens on Thursday morning, but the party confirmed he had dropped out around nine hours later, citing “personal and family reasons”.
The Times later reported it had approached Kennedy about a series of social media posts he had shared.
A Green Party spokesperson said: “These posts don’t reflect the views of The Green Party.
“We have spoken to Chris about these posts, and he has now deleted them. He apologises for the offence caused.”
According to The Times, an Instagram video shared by Kennedy described the arrests of two men over the incident as “total bullshit to keep the false flag flying”.
The paper says he also shared a post by a user named Hugh Anthony, a self-described “proud ethno-nationalist”, which said the response to the Golders Green arson attack in March made “no sense”.
The Green Party said their earlier statement still stood on the withdrawal of Kennedy, a nurse and children’s safeguarding specialist.
The party said previously: “We wish Chris the best and understand that family has to come first.
“As a party, we are re-opening nominations now because we believe people in Makerfield deserve a real choice at this by-election, and the Green Party will be standing to offer exactly that.
“Across the country, more and more voters are turning away from the old parties and looking for politicians who will genuinely stand up for their communities.
“We will also be redoubling our efforts on campaigning to expose the risk of Reform, a party who seeks to divide our communities.
“This election has to be about how to make the super-rich pay their fair share, how we tackle the cost-of-living crisis with lower bills and affordable housing, and how we protect our public services and our green spaces.
“It has to be about offering Makerfield hope over hate.”
Nominations for a replacement candidate will open tomorrow and a selection meeting is planned for Monday evening.
The crucial by-election is being contested after Josh Simmons stepped down as an MP to make way for Labour's Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham.
Burnham's bid to win a Westminster seat is widely seen as the first step in his eventual leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
