Man convicted of sending racist death threat to David Lammy ran as Conservative candidate for Leeds

Glenn Broadbent used a fake profile to send a tweet to the Labour MP for Tottenham, which said: "Are you hanging from a tree monkey boy? You will hang from a lamppost if you are not careful."

He resigned from the Conservative party last month in advance of the court case, where he was found guilty of the offence and given a suspended 12 month prison sentence.

Yesterday it was revealed by the Yorkshire Post that Mr Broadbent has stood for election to Leeds Council 12 times in the past 40 years, and was quoted as a spokesperson for a local Tory branch last year.

Public records show Broadbent stood for election to Leeds Council on 12 separate occasions between 1983 and 2008 in the wards of Bramley, Armley, Wortley and Farnley and Wortley.

He was not successful on any occasion.

Mr Lammy took to Twitter yesterday to say it was "truly despicable" that a Tory candidate had been behind the death threat.

The Conservative Party said since said that it "utterly deplores" the remarks made.

In an emailed statement, Broadbent told the Yorkshire Post that he had resigned from the Tory Party on May 18 as a result of the incident - six days before the court hearing.

He said: “This offence was committed almost two years ago, I cannot recall the exact circumstances other than I was in drink and was browsing Twitter. There can be no excuse for my behaviour.

“I am deeply ashamed of the offence and the distress caused to David Lammy MP, his family and any other persons who were offended by my message. Considering the recent murder of Sir David Amess MP, I realise how irresponsible and disgusting my actions were.

“No public servant should be subjected to such behaviour and there are no excuses for my behaviour. I extend my sincere apologies to David Lammy MP.

“I know members of Leeds City Conservative Federation will be disgusted by my behaviour and rightly so. I also know that the members I know are good people trying their best to help their communities. My comments have no place in an open, inclusive and diverse Conservative Party.”

Broadbent’s social media posts have previously been the subject of controversy, with a post to Facebook in 2008 reading: “Proud to be English and sick of paying tax to support lazy people, imported spongers and subsidising the Scots and the Welsh”.

Following a wave of backlash from Welsh politicians, Broadbent later apologised “for any offence caused”.