AN SNP member seeking to stand for Holyrood has quit the party.
Jordon Henderson, who was hoping to be a candidate for Edinburgh Southern, made the decision today after he was criticised for telling MSP Joan McAlpine to f*** off" on Twitter and making other derogatory remarks about women.
He was reported to have said McAlpine was a "top rate a***hole" and suggested Joanna Cherry MP, Ruth McGuire MSP and McAlpine should lose their jobs over their stance on the Gender Recognition Act reform proposals.
In other tweets dating back to 2011 and 2012, he suggested an American reality show contestant needed "a punch to the f***y" and described someone he worked with as a "b****".
Henderson has been in favour of the GRA reform plans, and has regularly spoken out in support of the move currently under consultation by the Scottish Government.
He apologised for the tweets, and said he looked back at "some of my tweets and cringe, but I'm not a robot, I'm areal human being".
However he has now decided to drop out of the race for Holyrood selection, and has resigned as a member of the SNP. Henderson, whose partner is MP Alyn Smith, said he did not want to impact his partner's reputation and said there had been "fake tweets" circulating online.
He told the Herald: "I have today cancelled my membership of the SNP. I have been appalled at the abuse I have received since I announced my intention to submit to vetting.
"Where I have apologised for previous tweets there are now many completely fake tweets in circulation which risk damaging my reputation as well as the Party and my partner.
"I will not be commenting further."
The Scottish Conservatives earlier today called for the prospective candidate to be suspended from the SNP , with Annie Wells MSP saying: "“This appalling abuse of women cannot be tolerated in Scottish politics.
“As such, this individual should be immediately suspended from the SNP and ruled out as a potential MSP candidate.
“Anything short of that will show the SNP just isn’t serious about standing up for women’s rights.”
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