A CONSERVATIVE candidate who was sacked after sharing an Islamophobic Facebook post by the EDL has vowed to return as independent – and said Ukrainian hackers could be to blame.

Mark Rees, who was ditched by Gloucestershire Conservatives yesterday, claims his personal social media page might have been tampered with by the Eastern European cyber criminals.

He says he has no knowledge of how the insulting joke appeared on his personal account and suggested hackers had been able to steal his passwords and share the post without him knowing.

“At the start of the year I was hacked by an individual in Ukraine,” he told the SNJ.

“They sent out emails to hundreds of my contacts asking people to transfer thousands of pounds to an account there.

“I don’t have any proof, but putting two and two together, I think that this person has access to my passwords and can still get into my Facebook account.

“I honestly have no idea where that post came from or how it got on my page. I’m not the most web-savvy person but it was shared at 12.30am. I’m, never up that late.

“I think someone in Ukraine could have posted them and liked different pages on my account.

“I can’t prove this but I have no other explanation. I don’t know why they’d do this. I have now deleted my Facebook account.

“I’ve said before, I’m a Christian man and I’ll stand up for what I believe in. But I don’t support the EDL sand I’m not a racist.”

The alleged hack comes 10 months after Mr Rees’ email account was first accessed by someone who asked email contacts to send money to a bank in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city which lies near the border with Russia.

At the time he said he was planning to change his email password immediately. Since then he has not been targeted in any way.

The former chairman of Stroud District Council denies any links to the far right English Defence League and said he does not support or condone the post.

He has also vowed to return to the political battlefield as an independent candidate to challenge for the Rodborough division in next May’s county council elections.

“To be honest I really am not aggrieved by the decision from the Conservatives. On reflection, it was a marriage doomed to fail,” he said.

“It was them who approached me in the first place. I have never really had political persuasions.

“I’m actually quite relieved to be back as an independent candidate. I am confident in my abilities so I am not too concerned at the outcome.

“I don't need a political badge to stand on what I believe and the intrinsic motivation I have to help people.

“The senior management of the Tory party, although they grilled me like a kipper, were very fair and I no problem with that.

“I still hold the opinion the Conservatives are the party of the working man.

“I cannot agree with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership as he is far left and I cannot agree with his communism and atheism.

“They can make their own decisions and I can make mine about my future as the people who know me know the truth about this matter.

“What my political enemies need to know I will be standing against them as an independent in next May’s county council elections.”

At the time Mr Rees was branded ‘xenophobic’ and ‘disgraceful’ by Labour councillors.

In an announcement yesterday, Gloucestershire Conservatives said: “The Conservative Party deplores the stance of the EDL and will not tolerate statements of support for their views in any way, shape or form.

“We have investigated this matter thoroughly and it is clear to us that in this instance, a Facebook account has been used to promote and share statements made by the EDL.

“Those views are wholly incompatible with the views of the Conservative Party and as such, Mr Rees’ position as a candidate is untenable.”

Mr Rees had been a Labour district councillor for the Cainscross seat.

When he was not selected as a candidate in last May’s local elections he quit the party and stood against his former colleagues as an independent.

After losing out he joined the Conservatives and was selected to challenge Labour’s Brian Oosthuysen for the Rodborough seat.

He will now fight for the seat as an independent.