Hillingdon councillor says 'racist tropes' in AI images shared by Tories crossed a line

A Hillingdon councillor has urged social media platforms and politicians to introduce stronger safeguards for elected representatives after AI-generated images portraying her were shared online by the borough's Conservative Party.Sital Punja, a Labour councillor on Tory-controlled Hillingdon Council, said the AI-manipulated images depicting her relied on what she described as "racist and antisemitic tropes".Among the images shared by the Hillingdon Conservatives on X was a cartoon portraying Punja, who is of Indian heritage, as controlling white male councillors like puppets on a string. The Hillingdon Conservative Group rejected the accusations, saying the material was intended purely as "political satire" and insisting there was no racist or antisemitic intention behind the images.But Punja disputed that explanation, telling BBC London: "It was the racism. And I don't accept that they think it's political satire.”She said puppeteering imagery had been used as an antisemitic and racist trope for decades, and claimed that such tropes feature in training undertaken by Labour Party members.Councillor Punja was first elected to Hillingdon Council in 2022, and has previously held the position of Deputy Leader of Hillingdon Labour. During her time in that role, Cllr Punja says she has faced a barrage of trolling which she says has “taken a toll”. But the use of her image in AI generated pictures, she says, crossed a line.One of the AI-generated images depicting Cllr PunjaFacebookIt comes after the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that Councillor Richard Mills, the Conservative Deputy Leader of Hillingdon Council, had been using the anonymous username ‘DelightfulYuzu2877’ to comment in local Facebook groups.This then led Councillor Punja to realise that the same account had posted an AI generated image of her.Read MoreSpeaking to the LDRS she said: “When you have an Indian female whose features are quite exaggerated, puppeteering White men who look helpless on her strings, it is saying [in my view] that people are vulnerable at the hands of this person of colour.“It is a historically known trope – similar to what was used during anti-Semitism. It implies that once an Asian person stands up in elected office, they just puppeteer White people.”During a council meeting in November 2025, Councillor Punja described how she was a victim of racial attacks as a child growing up in Luton. At times, she said she would have to hide in her home, and had her belongings stolen from her on the way to school as the assailants hurled racial abuse towards her.As AI becomes interwoven into aspects of all of our lives, the concern about the use of people’s images has grown. Cllr Sital Punja says the images crossed a lineHillingdon CouncilIn February, William Malcolm, Executive Director of Regulatory Risk & Innovation at the Information Commissioner’s Office, joined foreign counterparts issuing a joint statement raising “serious concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) systems that generate realistic images and videos depicting identifiable individuals without their knowledge and consent”.Academics have published papers detailing how difficult it is to remove specific data points contained in images from an AI learning model, such as ChatGPT. Once uploaded, deep learning algorithms absorb data and can use these images to train AI models.Reacting to this, Councillor Punja said: “I feel like it’s a violation of my privacy. I allowed the council to take a photograph of me to promote on their website as a councillor doing my civic duties. I didn’t expect another councillor to use that to create a caricature of me for their own political purposes.“There were a number of images… of the puppeteer and another of me running off with all the money, which was equally hurtful. It’s despicable.“I feel violated, sickened, and completely powerless. If that’s how they wanted me to feel, then they’ve succeeded. People need to know that this is what the people running the council do to you.”The LDRS put these comments to Councillor Richard Mills. He said: “I completely reject the allegations being made by Councillor Punja in the strongest possible terms. The image is clearly political satire about Councillor Punja’s political influence.“There was no reference to her race, sex or religion and I totally reject the suggestion that it contains any racist connotations, and suggesting this to be the case is a dangerously false accusation. Racism is far too serious an issue to be casually thrown around as part of ordinary political knockabout.“Councillor Punja is entitled to dislike the image and to make a complaint if she wishes. I will cooperate fully with any proper process, but unlike Councillor Punja I do not intend to conduct that process through the local media.”Another AI-generated image depicting Cllr PunjaHillingdon Conservatives' official account/ XThe Hillingdon Conservative Group has rejected any suggestion that the images were racist or sexist, and deny that was the intent behind their publication, describing them as “political satire”. In a statement, a group spokesperson said: “Political satire has always been part of the to and fro of politics, and there is a legitimate place for humour and caricature in political debate.“Hillingdon Conservatives completely reject the suggestion that the images in question were racist, sexist or misogynistic, or were published with any such intent. The images were political satire relating to Cllr Punja’s position and former influence within the Hillingdon Labour Group.“We do not accept the interpretation now being placed upon them, noting that images of a similar nature have been posted by local Hillingdon Labour groups. Allegations of racism are serious and should be considered on the facts and evidence, not simply asserted as part of a political disagreement or published in local media without substance.“We are always prepared to reflect on the material we publish and would expect the same standards from all political parties. However, we do not accept the characterisation being placed on these images.”Hillingdon Conservatives say that Hillingdon Labour members have too used AI manipulated photos of Conservative councillors. The LDRS has seen examples of a specific local Labour branch within the borough posting these types of pictures – however Councillor Punja says these accounts are not associated with her and are not the same as the Hillingdon Labour Group posting them.In one image posted by Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Labour, a gameshow style spinning wheel is depicted alongside senior Tory councillors shown as contestants, as the wheel lands on ‘we blame others’. Another, featuring three Conservative councillors and posted by the same account, is titled ‘Double Standards’ and shows a police station and the Rural Activities Garden Centre with ‘closed’ signs.Councillor Punja says that she has reported the images of her to the council’s Standards Committee, which consists of a majority of Conservative councillors. She is also calling for internal discipline of Councillor Richard Mills, whose father, Councillor Douglas Mills, is the Chief Whip, tasked with keeping councillor behaviour in line in his own party.Cllr Punja is also calling on Hillingdon Council to do more to protect councillors. She said: “Councils should have some responsibility to protect councillors when these things happen, because continuous personal attacks [including those] targeting your sex and skin colour take a severe toll on mental health. After the elections, I had to take time off.”Cllr Punja believes it is situations like this which discourage women from running for elected office. After the May 2025 local elections just 27 per cent of councillors in the UK were women. There is no overall figure available for 2026 after London’s local elections but in Hillingdon, this figure stands at 32 per cent.The Local Government Information Unit says that May 2025’s figure represents a dramatic drop in the percentage of elected councillors who are women nationally.Cllr Punja said: “Women are already kept out of senior leadership positions, and it takes a long time to convince a woman to stand because of considerations like online abuse, trolling, belittling, and continuous harassment. During the [2026 local elections] campaign, I received continuous online abuse from several angles, some of which I had to take to the police.“People wonder why they would put themselves or their families through this – my children had to see this picture, and I had to explain the trope to them…We need more women and diverse voices at the table for an inclusive society, but these [alleged] tactics actively deter women from coming forward.”The LDRS asked Hillingdon Council what measures are being taken to ensure the Standards Committee acts impartially, what measures the council takes to safeguard elected members, and whether any changes will be made to the council’s constitution regarding anonymous digital profiles, or AI manipulation of individuals’ images.A council spokesperson said: “Like all local authorities, Hillingdon has a recognised complaints process and we will not comment on allegations of complaints made. Any queries about the alleged actions of any individual councillor should be directed to them to respond.”The Standard has contacted Hillingdon Conservatives for further comment.