Ellenor Bland
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Ellenor (Ellie) Bland is a British politician. She was suspended by the Conservative Party after a 2006 email about Pakistani immigrants created an international controversy.
Personal life[edit]
Born in Pontypool in 1956, Bland was educated at Rougemont School and Llantarnam School.
She has one son and two grandchildren from her second marriage and two stepsons and four grandchildren from her third marriage.
Conservative Party[edit]
Bland has held a number of key roles in the Welsh Conservative party: she was a member of the campaign team in Calne's 2003 local elections, Michael Ancram's campaign support officer in the Devizes constituency, Secretary of the Women's Conservative Committee and Chairman of Calne Conservative Branch.
She was a Conservative councillor on Calne town council in Wiltshire. She stood as Conservative candidate against Sian James in the Swansea East constituency at the 2005 general election.
While campaigning for her seat, Bland announced the people of Swansea East’s main concern to be 'the high rate of council tax'.
Racism allegations[edit]
In 2006, Bland was referred to the Commission for Racial Equality after allegedly sending a racist message from her council email address and was referred to the Standards Board for England. The email, sent to other Conservative councillors and party members and, inadvertently, a Liberal Democrat councillor contained a 'poem' taken from a white supremacist website, as well as a picture of the white cliffs of Dover with the words 'piss off - we’re full' on them. She was suspended from both the council and the Conservative Party as a result. She claimed that it was her husband who actually sent the email, although it was signed 'Ellie'.[1][2][3][4]
UKIP[edit]
In 2007 she was suspended from the Conservative Party and subsequently joined the UK Independence Party along with the majority of the local Conservative councillors in Calne. They became the first (though not elected) UKIP councillors in the UK. She stood for election on Calne Town Council and North Wiltshire District Council in May 2007 but failed to win either seat. She later stood for the Calne Town Council By-Election for Lickhill Ward and was not elected.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Tory suspended over racist e-mail". BBC. November 6, 2006.
- ↑ "'I have Asian friends' - Tory councillor defends racist poem". The Guardian. November 6, 2006.
- ↑ "Tories suspend councillor over e-mail poem about immigrants". The Tiems. November 7, 2007.
- ↑ "Asian 'best friend' says e-mailed poem is offensive". The Times. November 8, 2006.
External links[edit]
- Calne Town Council
- 'Tory councillor suspended over racist poem' - Guardian
- 'Tories suspend councillor over e-mail poem about immigrants' - The Times
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