A Tory councillor suspended for sharing a racist ‘joke’ on Facebook has been allowed to rejoin the party - in turn handing the party a council win.
Former mayor Rosemary Carroll was forced to stand down for three months after the post, which compared an Asian to a dog.
But Labour is calling for immediate action after the local party decided to lift her suspension on Thursday morning.
The controversial move allowed Theresa May’s party to clinch overall control of Pendle Council, in Lancashire, by just one seat.
Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler, said Brandon Lewis, the Conservative Party chairman, should not allow the party to rely on her votes and must intervene immediately.
Butler said: “In January, Tory party chairman Brandon Lewis introduced a ‘respect’ pledge’ for candidates. Now, he’s praising Pendle Conservatives for winning the council, which they’ve only done by readmitting a councillor who was suspended for retweeting a racist joke.
“This is a shameless and cynical move that makes an absolute mockery of the pledge and shows the nasty party never went away.
“Brandon Lewis must intervene, apologise and immediately confirm this councillor will not be part of the Tory group and they will not rely on her votes.”
The Conservatives said Carroll had completed diversity training during her suspension.
The Tory council leader Paul White said Carroll had “learned form her mistake” and added: “In June last year Rosemary Carroll was suspended from the Conservative Party for three months over a post made on social media.
“The post was shared in error but Rosemary fully accepted the potential upset caused and sincerely apologized. Having served her suspension period she re-joined the party and completed additional diversity training.”