Birmingham City Councillor resigns following ‘offensive content’ social media suspension

A councillor has resigned his post following suspension by Birmingham City Council's Conservative group over allegations he tweeted "offensive content" from a social media account used anonymously. 

The opposition Tory party at the local authority stated that as soon as it became aware of the allegations, Rick Payne was suspended pending further investigation. It added it could not comment further due to safeguarding issues. 

The authority confirmed Mr Payne - who represented Kingstanding - had since resigned as a councillor.

A spokesman for the Conservative Group said it had been made aware of allegations that Mr Payne had "an anonymous Twitter account" from which he tweeted "offensive content." 

The spokesperson explained that Mr Payne, a former soldier, had previously shared "the absolute horrors" of what military personnel had been through "and the mental health scars it leaves." 

They added: "We are reaching out to speak to him to discuss the allegations and to offer specialist veterans support while the matter is investigated."