Wilma Brown: constituent who uncovered ‘deeply offensive’ social media likes backs candidate’s suspension

Wilma Brown faces an uncertain political future after a storm erupted over a social media account appearing to belong to her seemed to endorse posts linking First Minister Humza Yousaf to Hamas, including one calling him "Hamas Youseless.”

The profile also re-posted a Twitter attack on Mr Yousaf and his wife Nadia, who is Palestinian, which branded them "religious zealots" who "shouldn't be anywhere near our government". Another post “liked” criticised Mr Yousaf for giving aid to Gaza, and suggested the money could be used to fund Hamas. The profile also appeared to support social media attacks on Mr Yousaf over an old speech where he pointed to a lack of minorities in top posts in Scottish public life.

The account @WilmaBrown19 along with her candidate’s platform @wilmabrown4lab can no longer be found on the platform, now known as ‘X’ while her official Facebook page has also gone dark.

Now Adam Le Grice, the man who sparked the investigation by publishing a thread of likes and retweets, has spoken of the reaction.

The care worker, who recently moved to Dunfermline from Dundee, welcomed Mrs Brown’s apparent suspension pending any investigation by the party.

He said he searched the social media platform as he wanted to get the lowdown on candidates who were standing in the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency.

“I am an SNP member but open to seeing other views - there’s nothing wrong with people being against independence,” he said. “I stumbled across her tweets and likes and did not expect to see what I saw..

“Going through her reposts and likes there were ones supporting conspiracy theories, and liking Humza Yousaf to Hamas. They were on her personal account - I made surrey I had the right one as I found as tweet confirming she was the official candidate.”

Mr Le Grice said he was surprised at the response.

“I posted late on Tuesday, went to bed and when I woke up, my Twitter feed had blown up,” he said. “There were lots of likes and comments at first pretty with much everyone agreeing with me, and then a lot of comments and hate, but no one really defended her.

“She has been suspended and that is a good thing, It shows Labour’s due diligence processes, but they need to vet candidates better. It was surprising she has been endorsed for about a year if someone like me - doing nothing special, just to look through her Twitter - could find these.”

He said he was not heavily into politics - “I am quite left wing and welcoming of everyone regardless of sex, creed, colour or gender identity - but he may do a deep dive on other candidates’ social media accounts as they are announced for the next election race.

“A few people have asked me to look at the other candidates once they are confirmed. I’ll see what happens,” he added.

A Labour party spokesperson said: “The Labour party takes all complaints seriously. They are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate action is taken.”