An election candidate has been dropped by a newly-formed political party following a social media posts controversy.
On Monday, April 8 Alan Bayfield was announced as the Bury Independents Party's candidate for Bury West in the local elections on May 2.
The 60-year-old featured in pictures with other members at a campaign launch.
The party, which formed last year, is fielding nine candidates.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has seen a series of posts by an account belonging to Mr Bayfield on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On November 20 last year, in response to a news headline about an alleged migrant "terror cell", he wrote: "A bullet would do the job more efficiently."
A screenshot of one of the social media posts
On December 20, he posted in response to an image of George Floyd referencing funds paid to his family: "Bet they not spent it wisely probably bought crystal meth and crack."
On February 7, Mr Bayfield, in response to a graphic about unemployment rates by ethnicity, posted: "Funny isn't it regarding ethnicity and percentage unemployed, shows who wants to work and who doesn't."
A screenshot of one of the social media posts
On January 19, he wrote in a response to a post about migration: "They have no skills or qualifications (maybe terrorism or abusing women)."
On January 26, in response to a post to a tweet about migration showing men in Muslim dress holding Labour Party banners, he posted: "What do these people offer? Nil."
A screenshot of one of the social media posts
An emergency meeting of the Bury Independents was called on Tuesday, before Mr Bayfield was told he no longer had the party's backing.
A spokesman for the party said: "Bury Independents Party has withdrawn its endorsement of the candidate Mr Alan Bayfield and he will no longer stand as a Bury Independents Party candidate in the local election 2024.
"This decision was taken by Bury Independents Party committee due to historical personal comments made by Mr Bayfield on social media. All candidates and party members were informed by the party leader of this decision on the evening of the April 9, and the party leader has been reassured of the support for the party."
Mr Bayfield's name will still appear on local election ballot papers as a Bury Independent candidate as nominations have been finalised.
His profile page on the Bury Independents website has been removed.
The X account in question was publicly accessible on Tuesday, April 9, but is now private. Mr Bayfield told the LDRS he had nothing to add to the party's statement.
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