British Legislative Candidate Suspended For Threatening to Shoot Rival

A right-wing British parliamentary candidate, Robert Blay, has been suspended by his own party for threatening to shoot a rival candidate, the BBC reports.

His rival is Ranil Jayawardena, a British citizen of Sri Lankan origin.

Blay, who was running for the constituency of North East Hampshire, appeared in a video secretly made by a U.K. tabloid, the BBC says. In the video, Blay reportedly said that if Jayawardena ever became Prime Minister, he would “personally put a bullet between his eyes.” He also added that his opponent was “not British enough to be in Parliament.”

“I was shocked to hear about these comments and that someone who holds these types of views could have been selected as a UKIP candidate,” Jayawardena announced on Facebook Wednesday.

“My family believes in hard work. My father came to this country to do just that — never claiming a penny from the state,” Jayawardena added.

Blay’s party, the UK Independence Party, apologized to Jayawardena, characterized their candidate’s views as “abhorrent,” and immediately suspended Blay from the organization.

[BBC]