A Reform UK councillor has issued an apology after posing with a poster comparing the Labour Party with Jimmy Savile.
Lilian Rogers, who was elected to Wigan Council last month, shared a picture of herself posing with a poster which appeared to endorse the disgraced BBC presenter and DJ.
The handmade sign shown during the Makerfield by-election campaign read: ‘I’d rather vote for Jimmy Savile than Labour’.
Savile became the subject of hundreds of allegations of sexual offences following his death in 2011.
Cllr Rogers said she had posed with the sign before she understood what it meant in a photo taken ‘at the end of a long day of canvassing’.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘While I saw the sign at the time, I want to be absolutely clear: I completely failed to realise its sickening implications or context.
‘In the rush of a busy campaign day, it was viewed as entirely innocent, and I did not comprehend the true, disgusting meaning behind it.
‘Had I understood the implication for even a second, I would never have associated myself with it or agreed to be photographed.
‘The wording on that sign is utterly indefensible, and I completely condemn it.
‘I am deeply sorry for any distress this situation has caused to anyone who has seen it, and I am incredibly disappointed in my own naivety in allowing myself to be compromised in this way.’
She added that the matter was now being dealt with ‘internally’.
Thursday’s by-election saw a landslide win for Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham who took more than 9,000 more votes than Reform’s second-placed candidate Robert Kenyon.
Roger’s apparent endorsement of one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders attracted condemnation from fellow councillors.
Labour representative Paul Gray said he was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by the post.
He told the Independent: ‘The poor victims of Jimmy Savile, what the hell are they thinking?’
Wigan Council said the issue was being investigated in line with the local authority’s code of conduct.
Metro has contacted Reform UK for comment.
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