A newly-elected MP has apologised for offensive tweets she posted from a decade ago.

A post from 2009 by the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, Lauren Edwards, which said “I want these f****** Estonian r****ds out of my flat now!”, has resurfaced.

The user @jrc1921 on X, formerly Twitter, found the post and quote-tweeted it saying: “Starmer’s ‘high quality candidates’ update” this morning (July 8).

The tweet attracted attention and was reshared by many calling out the MP - an archived version showed it had received more than 130 reposts before it was deleted.

The post was made in July 2009, while Edwards was working as parliamentary researcher for Barbara Keeley, the then MP for Worsley and Eccles South.

Miss Edwards was one of Kent’s 11 new Labour MPs elected on July 4 and her seat was one of the party’s targets to take.

She has also served on Medway Council since December 2021 and was the authority’s portfolio holder for economic and social regeneration and inward investment until she entered the House of Commons.

The post by @jrc1921 has, at time of writing, received more than 130,000 views and the subsequent tweet with a screenshot after Miss Edward’s original was deleted has been seen another 130,000 times.

Other accounts are also republishing the screenshot, many replying to the MP’s other posts asking for a response - but Miss Edwards has turned off comments and limited which users can view them.

One user, @AllegedlyR, quoted the original message and said: “So Starmer, zero tolerance for racism yeah? Or do Slavs not count?”

Further tweets from February and April 2011 have also resurfaced.

One read: “Annoyed - card shop was shut and then drunk homeless man deliberately barged me in Cov Gdn. Big mistake, gave him massive elbow to the ribs.”

The other said: “@BaronessWrenthorpe text me from Walthamstow to say he’s seen a halal Pakistani Chinese Grill place. Hope he’s not suggesting we go there.”

Ms Edwards put out a statement on X in which she said: “I have recently been made aware of a small number of tweets that I posted on twitter from over a decade ago, which I now deeply regret.

“They were a significant error of judgement on my part, and I apologise wholeheartedly.

“Since becoming a local councillor and more recently an MP, I have seen first-hand the importance of bringing communities together and working with tolerance and respect for all in our society.

“I pledge to use my platform to continue that important work and dedicate myself to serving all residents of Rochester and Strood.”

KentOnline has tried to contact Ms Edwards directly for comment.