A high-profile troubleshooter sent in by ministers to save failing colleges has resigned after becoming embroiled in a race row – but declared he is “not a racist”.
Andrew Baird, one of the government’s national leaders of governance who chairs two colleges, shared a meme in a Conservative WhatsAppp group for the Surrey area about Rishi Sunak after his appointment as prime minister.
The image showed Larry the Downing Street cat walking away from Number 10 with a speech bubble saying “I’m off. Don’t want to risk being in a curry”, Baird told FE Week. Sunak is the first Asian prime minister of the UK.
Baird said he thought the meme was “extremely funny at the time”, but several members in the chat took offence to the message and reported him to the Conservative HQ. He was then suspended by the party.
