Tory candidate ‘spoken to’ after liking post labelling Jewish rival ‘fiend of Israel’

The Conservative Party has confirmed they “have spoken to” an election candidate after she “liked” a social media post referring to a newly elected Jewish MP as a “fiend [sic] of Israel”.

Rose Hulse, the parliamentary candidate for Bristol North East, also “liked” another post that said Keir Starmer was “tap dancing to #AntiSemitismIsAllThatMatters” in May this year.

In the same month, she liked a tweet referring to Damian Egan, a Jewish Labour parliamentary candidate now standing against her in Bristol, as “your fiend of Israel”.

Egan, who is Jewish, is married to an Israeli.

She also replied to a tweet that said “the Labour Party is a Zionist sympathiser” and that “Keir Zionist Starmer and his cronies must be removed from Labour leadership as they protect Israel’s interest”, with the line: “I am no fan of Labour and do not support their views.”

Mike Katz, national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, said: “This is hugely problematic, even before you consider this candidate is running against a Jewish Labour MP. The comments Rose Hulse interacts with are antisemitic.

“Given the speed with which it condemns antisemitism in Labour, the Conservative Party needs to investigate and take action urgently. This needs to be above party politics.”

In a statement to the Independent newspaper Hulse said: “The tweet referenced was clicked in error. As soon as I realised, I immediately deselected the tweet. I apologise for any offence caused.”

Hulse is a former figure skater who married aristocrat Richard Hulse, and is now a social media streaming entrepreneur originally from the US.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We have spoken to this candidate.”