THE Mayor of Salisbury has been expelled from the Conservative party over “offensive and inappropriate” remarks.

Councillor Atiqul Hoque (Con, St Edmund’s), who has been city mayor since May, is understood to have made comments on WhatsApp and social media reported as being antisemitic.

A source has confirmed Cllr Hoque has been expelled from the Conservative party. We have approached the mayor for comment.

Cllr Hoque’s reported expulsion comes as the Labour party nationally is engulfed in an antisemitism row of its own, after two candidates in upcoming byelections were suspended from the party over comments allegedly made at a meeting.