MP Ben Bradley mocks Sam Smith's pronoun choices with post renaming Mansfield as 'Themsfield'

A Nottinghamshire MP has posted an image on Twitter which appears to mock the issue of gender identity.

Ben Bradley, who is both the MP for Mansfield and the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, posted an image of the 'Welcome to Mansfield' sign and the singer Sam Smith, captioned with the word "Progress".

The Mansfield sign has been altered to read 'Themsfield', changing the noun 'Man' to the pronoun 'Them'.

Sam Smith publicly announced their preferred pronouns in 2019, after describing a "lifetime of being at war with my gender".

The artist wrote: "I'm so excited and privileged to be surrounded by people that support me in this decision but I've been very nervous about announcing this because I care too much about what people think...

"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."

Mr Bradley doubled down on his views in a response to a comment, writing "Protecting biological facts is not 'homophobia'.

"Sam Smith is a 'him', not a 'them'. We don't get to ignore biological facts just because we fancy it, and pretending that doing so is somehow right or sensible is not a good thing."

Mr Bradley frequently speaks out on gender issues. He recently posted about the resignation of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who had proposed a Gender Recognition Reform Bill which would have made it easier for trans people to be legally recognised.

The MP wrote: "Hopefully the unsafe and irresponsible Scottish Gender Reform Bill goes with her. You can't lead a country if you can't even say what a woman is."

Mr Bradley's tweet has been viewed more than 700,000 times to a mixed response, with many referring to it as "unprofessional" or "embarrassing"

One person wrote, "Do your job (and grow up)"

Another wrote "Showing true professionalism for your job here Cllr. Big man stood here guys. Big strong man with opinions and razor sharp wit.

Someone else seemed to praise Mr Bradley for engaging with the issue writing, "Keep it up Ben, I think you’ve hit a nerve there love it".

In response to a request for an interview to explore Mr Bradley's views, ITV News Central was told he will not be giving any interviews or issuing a statement.