THE leader of Bradford’s Conservative group has defended comments he made on social media saying his party should contest the Batley and Spen by-election.

Councillor Simon Cooke came in for criticism on Twitter after saying the Conservative Party was wrong not to be fielding a candidate for the seat vacated after MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death.

In the weeks following Mrs Cox’s death, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and UKIP all said they would not contest the by-election as a gesture of goodwill and mark of respect.

Posting on Twitter last night, Cllr Cooke said: "My party should be contesting the Batley and Spen by-election. Absolutely no justification for giving Labour a free pass.

"And don't give me all that 'shared values' nonsense either, if you're a centre-left charity lobbyist I probably don't share your values.

"But then, 'values' never fed the starving, housed the homeless or cured the sick.

"And as for the 'hate speech' stuff, this is just a straight up attack on free speech, and I definitely don't share that value."

The series of tweets has provoked fierce criticism.

One Twitter user, Steve Manthorp, said: “Isn’t there an argument that standing opportunistically takes advantage of her murder? That seems, at the very least, distasteful”

Another, Geoff Robbins, said: “No justification at all. Other than making assassination look like a viable and effective political tactic, of course.”

Labour MP for Great Grimsby, Melanie Onn, said: “Our friend and colleague was assassinated withdraw these ill considered comments”

And Labour councillor for Wibsey, Ralph Berry, said: “Impeccable taste and judgement….I presumed this was a joke. Its not”

Today, Cllr Cooke told the Telegraph & Argus he hadn’t meant any disrespect but felt his point of view should be put forward.

He said: “I got a lot of grief as a result and obviously I didn’t set out to be disrespectful in any way, shape or form, which is why I didn’t say it earlier.”

Cllr Cooke acknowledged that “the leadership of the party feel differently”.

He said: “There have been, in my lifetime, four political assassinations and this will be the first time that the election will be uncontested [by major parties].”

He said it gave an unnecessary voice to “unpleasant” fringe parties who were contesting the seat, adding: “We need to think about what democracy means in this context.”

He said: “When Ian Gow, MP for Eastbourne, was murdered, we had a by-election which was contested by the three main political parties and the Conservatives, the defending party, lost the seat.

“Perhaps these are different times and perhaps it is for me to learn we are in different times.

“But I think it is a vital point that has to be expressed, that in a democracy we have to see that happen.”