Lucy Connolly has accused Sir Keir Starmer of holding her as a political prisoner in her first interview following her release from jail.

Mrs Connolly, 42, a childminder from Northampton, said it was “bizarre” she had spent more than a year behind bars for posting a tweet inciting racial hatred in the wake of the Southport murders.

Mrs Connolly, a mother-of-two, explained she was “upset and angry beyond belief” and that a “red mist” had clouded her judgment. She accepted the post on X was not her “finest moment” but insisted she did not “advocate violence”.

In this exclusive interview with Allison Pearson, the Telegraph journalist who led the campaign for her release, Mrs Connolly also accused the police of being “dishonest” in allegedly