Fame at last for James Thompson, the ranting Tory councillor from Coulsdon East, whose social media activity even got him mentioned in the House of Commons today.

Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Croydon North/Lambeth South [delete to distaste] referred to Thompson’s angry tweeting yesterday, as reported by Inside Croydon, in an intervention from the back benches during the Budget debate. Click here to view the video.

In yesterday’s Budget speech, Tory Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a 2 per cent increase in National Insurance contributions for the self-employed by April 2019, breaking the Conservatives’ 2015 election promise of no tax increases during the parliament.

Coulsdon East councillor Thompson had announced himself “disgusted” with what he described as “this so-called Conservative government”.

Following his social media tantrum, Thompson today showed himself to be a little naive, as well as being on the vain side.

After asking Inside Croydon for the name of our source (ha!), Thompson wrote: “You could have used a better photo than one when I’d had no sleep for 36 hours.” He then expressed a keenness for us to re-edit our report and use a more flattering image of him.

He disputed our description of his social media outburst as a “rant”, saying he was simply expressing his opposition to the Chancellor’s measures.

And he added: “For the record I’m not on the right of the party, I’m very centrist – I voted Remain. I’m a Cameroon, not to the right of the party at all,” he stated, convincing no one with his apparent loyal support for probably the worst Prime Minister this country has endured in 200 years.

Thompson’s choice of some pejorative language also demonstrates that in many respects, he remains a very old-school right-winger: “I can also categorically confirm I’d never join the fruitcakes and loonies party that is UKIP,” he said, in remarks surely designed to endear him to nobody whatsoever.

Croydon Conservatives, including in the deep south of the borough in Coulsdon, will be conducting candidate selections for the May 2018 local elections later this year. Sitting councillors can sometimes be de-selected, just as they did when they dumped the principled Justin Cromie in the same Coulsdon East ward four years ago.