Stuart Brown, the Conservative candidate for Ryde West in the upcoming Isle of Wight council election, has told News OnTheWight he is now standing down.
The announcement comes after News OnTheWight reported that Mr Brown had been challenged for tweeting “misogynist” and “hateful” tweets to female MPs.
As reported last night, when asked if Brown would apologise he told us,
“On the basis that I have deleted the tweets there is no need to draw to their attention something that is no longer published.
“My position, I believe is clear based on what I have said in my response to you and the action I have taken.”
If you missed the News OnTheWight report last night you can catch up here.
Brown: No longer wish to stand for election
Late last night, Mr Brown contacted News OnTheWight, again to share his announcement. He said,
“Following a period of reflection I have decided that I no longer wish to stand for election to the Isle of Wight Council as the Conservative candidate for Ryde West.
“The Conservative Party on the island is doing a great deal of good work and has a host of excellent candidates for the upcoming election, including some exciting young men and women and I do not want this to become an unnecessary distraction for them or to detract from that excellent work.
“I expressed a view on some opposition MP’s statements that I found to be highly incendiary but In hindsight accept that my words may have been construed in a similar incendiary way or worse misconstrued as something which they were not intended to be.
“I do not consider myself to be a Misogynist in any way and take offence at the notion that I am.
“I do however apologise if that is how it has been interpreted. When someone took the time to look through my tweets they seem to have been selective in what they decided to share with you and missed several that show nothing but support and admiration for women both in politics and the wider working world including a recent tweet celebrating international women’s day.
“I will now look to devote my time to helping my community in other ways.”
Pugh: New candidate to be selected
David Pugh told News OnTheWight,
“I have since had a further discussion with Stuart. He has decided to step down as a candidate, for the reasons set out in his statement.
“The Conservative Party on the Isle of Wight will now proceed to select a new candidate for Ryde West.”
