A decision is yet to be made over the future of a newly-elected Labour councillor, who was suspended after posting a sex offender slur on social media. 

Cllr David Beckett was suspended by Labour before the Darlington Borough Council local elections in May but was still elected as a member for the Brinkburn and Faverdale ward. It is believed the decision came too late for him to be removed from the ballot paper. 

In response to news that Brits would be invited to pledge their allegiance to King Charles during May’s Coronation events, a post on his twitter account read: “Are we seriously being asked to swear that we will ‘pledge allegiance to his Majesty, [his] heirs and successors according to law’?

“There isn’t a chance in hell of me giving such an affirmation to a n***e.”

He initially deleted his account following a backlash over the comments, and later reactivated it, though it is not clear who the tweet was referring to.

The Northern Echo: Cllr Beckett deleted his Twitter account following a backlash over the comments, though it is not clear who the tweet was referring to. Cllr Beckett deleted his Twitter account following a backlash over the comments, though it is not clear who the tweet was referring to. (Image: Twitter)

In a statement following the online post the Darlington Labour group said: “We have been notified by Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit that one of our candidates has been suspended from the party regarding conduct on social media.

“We will not be commenting further on this individual case any further, while this investigation is ongoing.

“Darlington Labour do not agree with or endorse the comments made by this individual in this case.

“We hold our councillors and candidates to a high standard and apologise unequivocally for the offence caused in this instance.”

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Cllr Beckett is still listed as a Labour councillor on the local authority’s website, despite the suspension, and is due to appear at a full council meeting on Thursday. 

On Monday, The Labour Party said there was still no update. A spokesman added: “The Labour Party does not comment on individual cases.”