Kemi Badenoch gets rinsed on social media over Lucy Connolly tweet

Social media users have been rinsing Kemi Badenoch after a social media post supporting the release of Lucy Connolly.

She said:

Lucy Connolly finally returns home to her family today. At last.

Her punishment was harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting.

At that time, after Southport, Keir Starmer branded all protesters ‘far-right’ and called for “fast-track prosecutions”.

Days later, Lucy was charged with stirring up racial hatred – an offence that doesn’t even require intent to incite violence. Why exactly did the Attorney General think that was in the public interest?

Meanwhile, former Labour councillor Ricky Jones called for protestors to have their throats slit. Charged with encouraging violent disorder, he pleaded not guilty and was acquitted by a jury who saw his words as a disgusting remark made in the heat of the moment, not a call to action.

Juries are a cornerstone of justice, but we shouldn’t have to rely on them to protect basic freedoms.

Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety. If the law does this, then the law itself is broken – and it’s time Parliament looked again at the Public Order Act.

Lucy Connolly: inciting racial hatred

The courts jailed Lucy Connolly for 31 months after she pleaded guilty to distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred. They reduced the sentence from 41 months because she pleaded guilty.

As the BBC reported:

Lucy Connolly, 42, whose husband serves on Northampton Town Council, pleaded guilty in September after posting the expletive-ridden message on X the day three girls were stabbed in Southport in July 2024.

Connolly, from Northampton, called for “mass deportation now” and urged her followers on X to “set fire” to hotels housing asylum seekers.

As The Canary’s Rachel Swindon pointed out:

What if Mrs Connolly was instead a British Muslim, calling for hotels full of white “bastards” to be burned to the ground?

It was down to Larry the Cat to inform Badenoch that Connolly did, in fact, plead guilty and only served 40% of her sentence.

Cat check: Connolly pleaded guilty to distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred. She was sentenced to 31 months – reduced from 41 months because of the guilty plea. Her appeal against the sentence was dismissed by three court of appeal judges. She has…

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) August 21, 2025

Additionally, Connolly had a history of posting racist remarks on social media.

Moreover, Connolly *did* intend to incite violence.

She signed a document admitting this when she pleaded guilty, and the Court of Appeal heard evidence from her, on oath, and found that she had.

Not to mention her history of posting racist tweets.https://t.co/oNtQAJdMHF pic.twitter.com/vTeg8oW448

— The Secret Barrister 🦋 (@BarristerSecret) August 21, 2025

Skipping over the details

So much for the party of law and order.

Lies.

She was convicted and charged because she admitted guilt. That led to a reduced sentence.

She’s been released early so hasn’t even served three quarters of the tariff for such a heinous crime.

The leader of the Opposition should not be advocating for criminality.

— Don McGowan (@donmcgowan) August 21, 2025

Of course, Badenoch conveniently skipped over these details. For the leader of the opposition who gave us the racist Rwanda deportation plan, it’s no surprise Kemi came out batting for the vile white supremacist inciting anti-migrant violence.

What a disgusting, performative traitor, kemi will be remembered as a spineless tool of the far right in years to come, a complete embarrassment to black women everywhere https://t.co/4e6jPXGLbL

— (fun)ley (@finmckeown) August 21, 2025

Don’t injure yourself, Kemi – jumping on all those bandwagons.

Poor Kemi will get injured jumping on so many bandwagons.

— Robespierre (YouTube) 🇪🇺 (@MaxFRobespierre) August 21, 2025

.@KemiBadenoch, who did nothing for grooming gang victims as Women’s Minister and backs legal challenges to asylum hotels her government proliferated, is defending Lucy Connolly who pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred.

Is there any bandwagon this opportunist won’t jump on? https://t.co/tDVBCe70Nh

— Division Order (@divisionorderuk) August 21, 2025

Inaccurate comparison

Additionally, Badenoch compared Connolly to Ricky Jones, the Labour councillor for Dartford, who went on trial for encouraging violent disorder. In August 2024, he attended a counter-protest outside an immigration centre in Walthamstow, after being told not to attend. According to The Secret Barrister:

He was recorded addressing a crowd of “tens of thousands” through a public address system, making reference to “disgusting Nazi fascists”, shouting: “We need to cut their throats and get rid of them all”, drawing his finger along his throat. The video clip found its way onto social media and attracted widespread attention, leading to Mr Jones’ suspension from the Labour Party and his prosecution.

Jones pleaded not guilty. Then, the jury did not find Jones guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the standard needed for a criminal court to prosecute. This means the jury acquitted him.

Therefore, Badenoch’s comparison of the two is completely inaccurate. Connolly pleaded guilty – and therefore did not have a trial by jury.

The leader of the Conservative Party does not seem to understand the concepts of guilty verdicts and trial by jury. This is astonishing. https://t.co/Kspw1yzzyH

— Mark Meadowcroft (@mellotrono) August 21, 2025

Unbelievably, the Tory leader is also equating the Lucy Connolly case (pleaded guilty) to the Ricky Jones one (pleaded not guilty, was cleared by a jury).

The Conservatives have lost their minds. https://t.co/KGzxoB7Ucj

— Kevin Schofield (@KevinASchofield) August 21, 2025

Clearly, Badenoch is attempting to claw back a couple of Reform voters.

The level of utter fucking shite from Kemi

She clearly has calculated this is an electoral bandwagon worth her jumping on

Nigel Farage & others must be so proud of their achievement https://t.co/m2WSQpgjV2

— ScottishPanda 🇬🇧 (@PandaScottish) August 21, 2025

FWIW i would lay blame for the rise of Reform & the division they sow solely at the Tories door.
Weak rudderless leadership & a lack of real opposition (of which this is a great example) has left a void on the Right which the extremists have exploited. https://t.co/sbEAguXGuv

— Benj 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@Benjwestwood) August 21, 2025

If Badenoch had wanted to make a keen observation and a valid point, she could have highlighted how certain politicians also fanned the flames of the racist riots – and should not be above the law.

Of course, that might have been a little too much like genuine introspection for a Tory with an atrocious streak of vicious racism. Ultimately, Badenoch wasn’t THAT concerned about Connolly that she’d actually incriminate the despicable members of her own party who incited hatred.

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