Tory politician’s wife admits race hate post on X

Outside court, Mr Connolly told reporters the last few months had been “quite traumatic for Lucy and the children”.

He added that his wife “knows she overstepped the mark and there’s consequences for it, so hopefully she will be able to learn from it and move on with her life”.

He said she had regretted the post “a couple of hours after she put the link up”.

He revealed that he had received messages of support from some residents urging him not to resign as a councillor, while others had contacted him to say he should quit.

“I’ll leave it to the next elections and let them decide,” he said.

Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime and counter terrorism unit, said: “During police interview, Lucy Connolly stated she had strong views on immigration, told officers she did not like immigrants and claimed that children were not safe from them.

“It is not an offence to have strong or differing political views, but it is an offence to incite racial hatred – and that is what Connolly has admitted doing.”

She will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 17 October.