![Councillor Eleanor Wills [pictured] said: “Throughout campaign periods I’ve had to come away from social media because when I read comments about me and my weight and my appearance you do have to have an armour when it comes to putting yourself on a public platform.”](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/64411a5d20000062007dd0b4.jpeg?cache=33bX4WudRn&ops=crop_58_433_1372_831%2Cscalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
A Conservative local election candidate has been accused of “fat-shaming” a female councillor ahead of May’s vote.
Kurt McPartland has shared attack adverts on Facebook targeting Labour councillors in Tameside, Greater Manchester.
They included one post that used a photograph of councillor Eleanor Wills before she lost five stone, criticising her over the borough’s obesity figures.
It said: “Tameside branded ‘fat capital’ of the UK with two thirds of residents classed as overweight.”
The candidate for Dukinfield and Stalybridge also posted figures about the council’s obesity spending and took aim at the area having the “highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Greater Manchester”.
Wills, who is the executive member for health and wellbeing, told HuffPost UK: “It seems to be, sadly, just this undercurrent of misogyny. There’s no other word for it.
“It’s really sad that it comes from a candidate because actually it’s a privilege to be in public life. It’s a privilege to be representing people on a public platform, but with that should come responsibility. It does incite hate.
“There’s been lots of nasty comments with regards to my weight. I am in the fortunate position that recently I have lost nearly five stone.
“The picture that is used is outdated, which is why a lot of people are aggrieved by it as well.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s outdated or not – it’s irrelevant. It’s 100% trying to fat shame. It’s not a fair representation.”
Wills said at her heaviest she was nine stone more than she is now and therefore “understands the complexities of obesity”.
She stressed the importance of access to better food choices, affordability and support as key to helping people: “Not shaming women on public platform, who people identify with, what does that do to women? What does that do to anybody with a weight issue?”
The mother-of-three young children said she had received lots of personal messages of support from people “appalled” by the post.
She said she felt the need to challenge the behaviour after speaking to three female students who had shared their work on sexual harassment and misogyny with her.
Tory cabinet minister Therese Coffey faced a wave of abuse online over her appearance when she was made health secretary under Liz Truss.
Wills cited abuse of both Coffey and Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, adding: “It’s absolutely diabolical. We need more female representation across politics not less
“Certainly platforms and comments detract people, they discourage people from wanting to put themselves in that position.”
HuffPost UK has contacted McPartland. He has since apologised and deleted the post.
In a statement on Facebook, he said: “I recently put a post up about Cllr Eleanor Wills, I would like to apologise to Eleanor for the manner in which the post was displayed.
“We used a picture that was out of date when we should have looked for a recent photo. The post was intended to display the failure of the weight programme and the problems with health in Tameside.
“The post did not mean to come across misogynistic and I’m sorry if it came across that way.”