Tim Farron sacks '˜anti-Semitic' Bradford Lib Dem candidate David Ward

Controversial former MP David Ward has been sacked as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the General Election, party leader Tim Farron has announced.
David WardDavid Ward
David Ward

The party had announced just yesterday that Councillor Ward would re-contest his former parliamentary seat in Bradford East, despite having had the party whip removed in 2013 after making a series of critical comments about Israel, including a reference to the Middle Eastern nation as an “apartheid state”.

He was chosen to run against the incumbent Labour MP Imran Hussain, who ousted Cllr Ward in 2015.

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The local party described Mr Ward as a “hard working campaigner” who had championed issues such as fuel poverty, community cohesion and school funding.

Cllr Ward became embroiled in a row over anti-semitism in 2013 for comments comparing the Israeli-Palestine conflict to the Holocaust. He also made subsequent statements condemning “Zionism” and asking “how long... the apartheid State of Israel [can] last”.

This prompted accusations of anti-Semitism and led to Mr Ward being suspended from the party for two months.

The party stated at the time that he had failed to use “proportionate and precise” language when referring to Israeli policies, which risked “[bringing] the party into disrepute”.

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Two years later, he caused futther controversy after using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestine.

Speaking in 2015, the then-Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg described his comments as “crass and insensitive”.

Cllr Ward lost his seat to Mr Hussain in 2015, with the Labour candidate securing a 7,084 majority. He currently represents the ward of Bolton and Undercliffe on Bradford Council.