A Christian councillor who was suspended from his local Conservative group after sharing his religious beliefs on social media, has been reinstated.
King Lawal, who has been a councillor at Northamptonshire Unitary Council for two years, had the whip removed this summer, after he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that "Pride is not a virtue but a sin” in response to pictures of pride parades in June.
He wrote: “When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you.”
He was also removed from several other organisations and claims he was forced to resign from his own company, which he had built and grown.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Mr Lawal was preparing for legal action against the council, citing “multiple violations of his rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion”. However, the 39-year-old has now been reinstated following an investigation by the local authority’s standards committee.
Following the decision, Cllr Lawal expressed his relief and hopes that the Conservative Central Office, which is still investigating the case regarding his membership, comes to the same conclusion as his local group.
Speaking to Premier, Cllr Lawal said that he never expected his tweet to cause such backlash.
“It didn't cross my mind that there would be so much vitriol from a tweet, which was stating a biblical doctrine - biblical passages, biblical understandings that has been there for thousands of years. I thought in this country we were still allowed to have a differing view.”
He continued: “As a councillor, I do see that there may have been some things around not offending people, not discriminating, etc. within the policies I signed up for, but at the end of the day the speech of a public representative cannot be curtailed, because how then can you engage and get to mutual understanding of a particular notion, for example.”
Cllr Lawal said he hopes his reinstatement “speaks positively in people’s minds” and encourages people to “stand up for what they believe in”.