Northamptonshire MP Andrea Leadsom criticised after mocking Sam Smith’s pronouns on Twitter

MP for Northamptonshire South, Andrea Leadsom, has come under fire on Twitter for sharing a tweet mocking singer Sam Smith’s gender identity.

The original tweet in question was made by Mansfield MP and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Ben Bradley. It contained an image of Sam Smith superimposed onto a photo of the welcome sign to Mansfield, which had been changed to ‘themsfield.’

Sam Smith publicly announced their preferred pronouns as ‘they/them’ in 2019 after describing “a lifetime of being at war” with their gender.

The artist wrote: "I understand there will be many mistakes and mis-gendering but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now."

Ms Leadsom shared Mr Bradley’s tweet with a laughing emoji at around 2.30pm on Sunday (February 26).

Northampton LGBTQ+ organisation, Q Space, criticised this move, stating it was “not very professional.”

The support group then revealed that Ms Leadsom had a meeting with their team just last Friday (February 24) to discuss topics facing the local LGBTQ+ community and arrange a visit.

Ms Leadsom responded: “It was a really good meeting! Very interesting and pretty frank exchange on a few points. I would love to do a visit. Would also love to keep a sense of humour when something is genuinely funny.”

The Q Space team tweeted back: “An interesting meeting yes, let's keep this dialogue open and have another meeting. If this is your sense of humour, we think it's best kept away from our youth and support groups, and would be nice kept off a public and professional account, don't you think?”

Ms Leadsom’s tweet has been viewed over 30,000 times with people branding it as “embarrassing” “transphobic” and “pathetic.”

Someone wrote: “I suggest you grow up and act in a manner becoming of the position which, unfortunately, you currently hold.”

Only one person appeared to find the tweet amusing, writing “You will trigger some with this,” alongside a laughing emoji.