Former cabinet minister Saida Warsi has resigned from the Conservative Party, claiming it has moved too far to the right compared to when it was in power.
Warsi said in a post to X: “Today I crack the whip with a heavy heart and decide that for the time being I will no longer accept the Conservative whip. Today is a sad day for me. I am a Conservative, and I still am, but I am sad. In particular, the current party is a far cry from the party I joined and served as a cabinet minister.
“My decision reflects how far to the right my party leans and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities. It is a timely reminder of the issues raised.”
Following Mr Warsi's resignation, the Conservative Party tweeted about the trial in which demonstrators held placards using derogatory words suggesting Rishi Sunak and Suela Braverman were “coconuts”. In response, the company announced that it had begun an investigation into Warsi.
Protester Malieha Hussain was found not guilty on September 13 of racially aggravated public order offenses for holding up Sunak and Braverman placards under coconut trees. Prosecutors suggested it was a racial slur, meaning “he may be brown on the outside, but he's white on the inside.”
After Hussain's acquittal, Warsi posted a photo of himself drinking a coconut on X and wished him “many congratulations.”
A Conservative party spokesperson said: “We received a complaint regarding divisive language allegedly used by Baroness Sayyida Warsi. Baroness Warsi was informed earlier this week that an investigation would be launched.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that all complaints are investigated without prejudice.”
Warsi posted the following in response to the party's investigation: And I'm not ready to play the game behind closed doors.
“If Rishi Sunak's party wants to re-try and re-enact the Coconut trial, despite Malieha Hussein's acquittal, clear legal evidence and overwhelming expert witness testimony, then I wants to do it publicly and transparently.
“It would be unfair for me to do this while continuing to receive the Conservative Party's whip. I recognize that I have the privilege of the platform, and I will exercise that privilege by speaking truth to power. I decided to do that.”
Mr Warsi, a former party chairman, has long been a critic of the Conservative Party and has said in the past that the party had a problem with Islamophobia, particularly since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister.
