Starmer defends 31-month jail sentence of Tory councillor’s wife over racist post on Southport Murders

21 May 2025, 16:36

Sir Keir Starmer has defended the 31-month prison sentence handed out to a Tory councillor's wife who went on a social media rant about the Southport murders.

Lucy Connolly, 42, saw her appeal against her sentence rejected on Tuesday after she posted on X the day Axel Rudabkubana murdered three children in July last year.

She wrote at the time: "Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it."

Sir Keir was grilled about the mother's sentence during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday by ex-Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe.

Mr Lowe, who now sits as an Independent in the House of Commons, asked the Prime Minister whether he thought Connolly's jailing over "one foolish social media post, soon deleted" was "an efficient or fair use of prison".

In response, the PM said that "sentencing was a matter for the courts, adding: "I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country.

"I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely.

"But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people.

"I would always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe."

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Before deleting it, Connolly's social media post was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours.

On Tuesday, her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed by three judges at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Speaking in court yesterday, Connolly said she did not understand that by pleading guilty at crown court she was accepting that she intended to incite violence.

But Lord Justice Holroyde, one of the three appeal judges presiding over her case, told her the judges were 'unable' to accept that she "entered her guilty plea with no understanding of what it entailed".

He said the judges found Connolly to be 'intelligent and articulate' in the evidence presented to them.

Connolly is married to Raymond Connolly, a Conservative councillor on Northampton Town Council.

She was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account.

When officers seized her phone, they found more messages which included racist remarks.

In a written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde, said: "There is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive.

"The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused."