A South London councillor has been dropped as a school governor and suspended from his local party, after being criticised for a tweet he made last weekend.

On October 10, the Bedonwell Federation, a pair of infant and junior schools in Belvedere, announced on their Twitter account that Councillor John Davey is “no longer a Governor at Beckonwell”.

The Bexley councillor was previously the chair of governors for the two schools, working with the headteacher and other governors to maintain the performance of the schools.

The next day, Aaron Newbury, chairman of the Erith and Thamesmead Conservative association, said in a tweet that he has suspended Cllr Davey’s membership “following a complaint”.

Mr Newbury said the complaint had been passed on to the Conservative Party headquarters for further action.

Cllr Davey previously served as chairman of the Erith and Thamesmead Conservative Association.

In a now-deleted tweet from October 8, the councillor said: “Can we send her back and get our money back?”.

The tweet was in reference to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released from prison by the Iranian Government after the UK reportedly paid £400million for her release.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Iran after Iranian authorities claimed she allegedly planned to topple the country’s government.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (October 11), Councillor Stefano Borella referred to the dismissals in reference to the Bexley Plan for the next four years.

He said: “To say it’s a joke is beyond belief. I appreciate action has been taken, and I hope the member doesn’t come back because quite frankly I thought those comments were atrocious.

“We are leading by example and it’s important that if we’re putting these words down, action actually means a lot more than just words.

"And I’m afraid the actions of Councillor Davey did a disservice to the controlling party and a disservice to the words in this report.”

In a response from his Twitter account on October 11, Cllr Davey said: “I am aware that there have been a number of complaints about my tweet regarding Nazarine Zaghari-Ratcliffe that was never mentioned to be taken seriously.

"I apologise for any offence this may have caused as this was never intended.

“While this complaint is being considered, I have decided to step back from the Conservative Group on Bexley Council & sit independently in Council Meetings during this period. One [sic] again, I apologise for something that I never meant to be taken seriously.”

Cllr Davey’s Twitter account has since been deleted.

The Bedonwell Federation was approached for comment, and confirmed that Councillor Davey is no longer a governor at their schools.

A Bexley Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of this issue, which we have referred to the Council’s officer responsible for dealing with complaints against Councillors.

“The matter is currently under review under the Members’ Code of Conduct complaints handling procedure. A decision will be made in line with the procedure.”

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