Labour Party sanctioned Leeds city councillor John Garvani over 'grossly offensive' historic tweets before he was elected

Two social media posts by Coun John Garvani, dating from 2012, were referred to party chiefs for “investigation” when they were flagged up to Leeds’ Labour group in May this year.

But when asked for an update on the case earlier this month, a Labour spokesperson said Coun Garvani had already faced “sanctions” in relations to those tweets.

The sanctions were agreed by the party’s National Executive Committee in 2021 - a year before he was elected onto the city council to serve the Horsforth ward.

The party, however, refused to reveal what specific action was taken.

Coun Garvani said he was reminded of the party’s social media code of conduct last year, but that no further action was taken.

Speaking after the tweets emerged in May this year, Leeds Conservative councillor Dan Cohen, who is himself Jewish, said: “I consider these tweets to be anti-Semitic and grossly insulting. I shared the content of these tweets with other senior members of the Leeds Jewish community who share my view, my distress and my disgust.”

Coun Garvani had been in line to chair a council committee following his election, but the Leeds Labour group pulled his candidacy at the authority’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May, after the tweets were sent to senior local figures the night before.

Speaking earlier this month, Coun Garvani said he had since had an amicable discussion with a Jewish community group in the city to discuss the posts.

Asked if he regretted the tweets, Coun Garvani said: “I regret that they’ve been out of context.

“They’ve been dealt with by the party and I was reminded of the party’s social media code of conduct.”

Asked about the Labour Party’s statement that sanctions had been imposed on him last year, Coun Garvani said: “The fact that I was allowed to stand as an election candidate in May would suggest there’s no sanctions of any significance.

“I was reminded of the party’s social media code of conduct. I don't know whether you’d consider that as a sanction.”