The Conservative candidate for the former seat of murdered Jo Cox joked yesterday that the campaign is going well as ‘we have not yet shot anybody’.
Dr Ann Myatt, running for election in Batley and Spen, has apologised after making the comment during a hustings debate held for constituents before the General Election on June 8th.
She said: “We have here people of all faiths, we have here people from different parts of the community, and we have not yet shot anybody so that’s wonderful.”
The comments were received by a deathly silence, even though the crude joke appeared to make Dr Myatt chuckle.
She has since apologised after realising her comment was inappropriate, saying: “I wholeheartedly apologise for my ill-judged remarks at the hustings and for any offence they caused.
“I said sorry at the time and would like to apologise again for my comments, which were out of character and came at the end of a tiring day.”
Jo Cox, 41, was shot several times and then stabbed after leaving her constituency surgery by a man who shouted ‘Britain First’, days before the EU referendum.
The then Ukip leader Nigel Farage also got into hot water over the issue for saying the Brexit campaign had won ‘without a bullet being fired’
Words fail pic.twitter.com/eIy4Sz7W1k
— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 30, 2017