Nathan Garbutt, 21, claims members of Wakefield Council's Conservative group were outraged when he agreed to pose with his shirt off for a forthcoming edition of popular gay lifestyle mag Attitude.

Conservative councillors have refuted the claim – and said Mr Garbutt only left because he disagreed with a perceived shift in Tory policy.

But the openly gay former Wakefield College student, who stood for the Tories in May's Wakefield Council elections, says he resigned after being told not to do the shoot.

He now plans to stand as an independent at the next local election – and intends to go ahead with the pictures.

He said: "I'm doing the shoot to prove politics isn't just for the old and ugly.

"Most Conservatives in Wakefield are grey-haired, grey suit-wearing, straight men. I was surprised by their reaction because I thought it was a brilliant opportunity to show we were more diverse than people think.

"I think they are worried that Wakefield people are strait-laced and it might reflect badly on them. If we were in Manchester or London, perhaps they would have been more open to it."

Mr Garbutt, who came out when he was 18, developed an interest in politics as a teenager because he was attracted by the policies of Margaret Thatcher.

He was one of the founder members of Conservative Future in Wakefield and, as the youngest candidate at the local elections in May, polled more than 900 votes in Knottingley – a record for a Tory standing in the ward.

He said: "I didn't knock on people's doors and say 'Hi, I'm your candidate, I'm gay', but most people know and it isn't a problem.

"But the local Conservatives have always tried to keep my sexuality quiet."

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