A Harrow candidate in next month’s local elections has been suspended by the Conservative Party pending an investigation into social media posts from an account he is associated with that have been called “racist”.
The Conservatives have also withdrawn party support for his campaign.
Will Jackson was the Conservative candidate for North Harrow at the upcoming Harrow Council elections on May 7 but is now under investigation by the party due to comments which come from an account associated with him in response to posts by several non-white MPs on social media platform X.
Posts sent from Mr Jackson’s X account contain offensive comments made over many months, including telling Adnan Hussain MP that he should go “back to Pakistan”, while another reportedly suggested people “should be deported” and referred to them as “Islamist scum”.
The Conservative Party had selected Mr Jackson to stand for election in Harrow – one of the most diverse boroughs in the country. The posts, which a spokesperson for the Party described as “wholly unacceptable”, appear to target MPs of Asian origin.
According to the 2021 Census, more than 45 per cent of residents identify as Asian or Asian British with Indian residents constituting the largest group at 29 per cent of the population. It is a major hub for British Asian communities, including significant Gujarati and Tamil populations, with a number of them currently elected councillors under the Conservative Party banner.
In one post, the account replied to British-born Your Party MP Zarah Sultana, calling to “abolish all foreign MPs”, as well as suggesting the Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, should “go back to Pakistan”.
The account apparently belonging to Mr Jackson also sent several derogatory and offensive posts targeting another Independent MP, Adnan Hussain who represents the Blackburn constituency. It referred to him in one comment as “Islamist scum” and suggested he “should be deported”. In other posts it referred to Hussain as “the Pakistani MP” and that he should “bully you back to Pakistan”.
The account has since been deleted on X. The Leader of the Labour opposition on Harrow Council, Cllr David Perry, called the posts “discriminatory and racist” and claimed the fact that the account had passed the Conservative Party vetting process as “a major concern”.
Cllr Perry said: “For a Conservative local election candidate in North Harrow to express such openly discriminatory and racist views is unacceptable. Mr Jackson’s comments aimed at British people of Indian, South Asian and Islamic origin as well as the anti-Irish, African and Eastern European sentiment have no place in Harrow.
“All political parties should have robust initial and ongoing vetting procedures of election candidates and for the local Harrow Conservative Party to overlook such open bigotry is a major concern. Harrow benefits from a rich cultural, religious and ethnic diversity, long may this continue.”
Mr Jackson has stood for election as a Conservative twice.
In 2022 he came fourth out of six in a bid to represent Harrow on the Hill ward as a councillor, where he received 1,116 votes, and again in 2024 where he unsuccessfully stood for the London Assembly.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “These apparent comments are wholly unacceptable, and this individual has been suspended from the Conservative Party pending an investigation. Whilst this process is rightfully confidential, the party has withdrawn support from their campaign with immediate effect.”
Will Jackson was approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication.
