The Conservatives have been drawn into a "racism and sexism" row after a Tory councillor appeared to launch a racist message at his Reform UK challenger's wife.
Tory councillor Mike Introna had been discussing Reform candidate Andrew McCallum in a WhatsApp group chat - where he labelled him "ageist" and "anti-disabled", screenshots shared with GB News appear to show.
Introna, who has served as a county councillor for Retford East since 2021, then received a reply from fellow Tory district councillor David Bamford saying: "His wife followed my councillor page tonight... Blocked her."
Introna then replied: "She reported an empty bin on Facebook, for f***'s sake. His TikTok bride."
Tory councillor Mike Introna had been discussing Reform candidate Andrew McCallum in a WhatsApp group chat
|McCallum's wife, Jitnida Chanya, is from Thailand - and as a result, the county councillor has been accused of both racism and sexism.
The Tories have been urged to take action - not least, because Nottinghamshire County Council leader Sam Smith was in the same WhatsApp group.
A Reform UK spokesman told GB News: "This sexism and racism is unacceptable. The Conservative Party must take action very quickly."
It comes just a few months after the same Mike Introna had seen another WhatsApp conversation come to light - in which he appeared to joke about putting a "knife to the throat" of a female colleague.
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Mike Introna (left) and David Bamford (right) were caught out swapping messages about McCallum's wife on WhatsApp
|In that conversation, said to date back to 2022, one group member had written about county councillor Tracey Taylor: "Could I suggest a fundraiser? TT in the stocks and rotten tomatoes to throw at a £1 per bag??"
Another member replied: "I would end up with no wages left", to which another retorted: "You and most of us too."
Then, Introna wrote: "Just a knife to her throat. I'll put £20 in."
LATEST ON THE TORIES:
McCallum's wife, Jitnida Chanya, is from Thailand - and as a result, the county councillor has been accused of both racism and sexism
|At the time, he told NottinghamshireLive: "I could draw you that up in five minutes. I don't know why people do these things, I don't know why people have to be so low.
"I'm not commenting on stuff like this, it's nonsense. If you look at my record of what I do in my community, for people to put stuff out like this is just unfair."
A Conservative Party spokesman told GB News: "The Conservative Party has an established code of conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence.
"This process is rightly confidential."