LOSING Tory candidate for Bury South claimed Jewish areas were overwhelmingly behind the Conservatives.

Robert Largan, who lost out to Labour’s Ivan Lewis by a 5,965 majority, said he had the backing of the local Jewish community.

He claimed that the national Labour attitude towards Jewish people had contributed to his ‘overwhelming’ vote.

He said: “Jewish areas of Bury South voted overwhelmingly for me and the Conservatives.

“I am very concerned that millions of people nationally have voted for a Labour Party led by people who tolerate the likes of Ken Livingstone in their ranks.

“And for many people in Bury South that is quite sobering.”

When asked whether that was a reference to alleged anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, Mr Largan declined to elaborate.

Mr Livingstone, a former MP and former Mayor of London, avoided expulsion from the Labour Party in April this year at a disciplinary hearing into his remarks linking Adolf Hitler and Zionism, but was suspended for a further year.