‘Indiana’ Josh and the Tweet of Doom

VPHC candidate ‘Indiana’ Josh Llewellyn is stopping his campaigning due to a complaint over a controversial tweet he made. However he is not withdrawing from the elections.


‘Indiana’ Josh, aka Josh Llewellyn, will cease campaigning for Vice President of Housing and Community in the Guild elections following a complaint made by Alice Swift. However, he is not withdrawing from the elections and is still running for VPHC.

Alice Swift wrote on a Facebook note titled, ‘Josh Llewellyn and the ‘Comedy’ of Sexual Assault’ stating the following: “On the 31st of January while I was speaking in Guild Council, Josh Llewellyn posted this comment (see picture below) to me ‘@Swiftnotswallow’ from his Twitter account. He used the #GuildCouncil hashtag with the intention of having many people following to see it. He instructed me to “stop talking” and insinuated that I should be orally raped and swallow his semen instead. He joked about intending to sexually assault me.”

the offending Tweet from Llewellyn to Alice Swift during Guild Council

Josh Llewellyn released this statement on his Facebook page earlier this evening:

“Hi all

Well, you may or may not have seen Alice Swift’s post about me, but in light of that I have decided to cease campaigning.

Her post has made me re-consider my actions, and I feel that stopping campaigning is the right thing to do. I do feel it has been blown out of proportion, though I completely understand people’s views on it and why it is wrong. Again, my apologies to anyone offended.
Josh.”

Llewellyn asked to meet Alice to discuss his tweet, to which she obliged but checked him out on Facebook beforehand. She discovered this drawing on his Facebook profile, depicting his friend having sex with his mother. 

In her note, Alice says she was “disturbed” by the picture, and after discovering it refused to meet with Llewellyn.

Josh told the Tab “I believe that candidates should be judged on policies and not issues from the past, however I still concede that my comments were undeniably childish, and I’m sorry for any upset that I have caused.”

Alice Swift told The Tab in a response, “His tweet only happened a couple of weeks ago, hardly the distant past. Someone as childish that to make those comments shouldn’t be paid £17k for the next year to represent and lead students. Telling a woman to stop talking when they’re in an elected position is sexist enough, let alone joking about sexual assault.”

She also said, “His behaviour makes me and many other women and men feel deeply unsettled and very uncomfortable at the though of him being able to become an officer and potentially put off the comparatively few women that already do get involved with Guild politics.”

On his campaign Facebook page he explained that “the current controversy does not concern housing and accommodation and therefore I am not withdrawing my candidacy.”

The Tab will keep you updated as this story develops.