A councillor has seen her appointment to a key City Hall role suspended while she is investigated over a five-year-old social media post relating to a golliwog.

Sally Button, who represents the Bowthorpe ward for Labour, was due to be appointed to the new Norwich City Council cabinet at a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, May 25).

It is understood she was to be named cabinet member with responsibility for social inclusion - which includes championing equality and diversity.

But that has now been put on hold while her party looks into a complaint lodged by opposition politicians.

It relates to a Facebook message from 2017, when another user posted a photograph showing a tattoo of a golliwog - once used as the brand logo for Robertson's jams and now widely considered a racist caricature - with the caption: "I asked for a tattoo of the bloke from The Jam. This doesn't look like Paul Weller to me."

Ms Button's response - featuring two crying laughing emojis - was reported by the Greens to the council's monitoring officer on Friday.

Eastern Daily Press: Norwich City Council passed a motion pledging support for the transgender and non-binary communityNorwich City Council passed a motion pledging support for the transgender and non-binary community (Image: Newsquest)

While City Hall's monitoring officer says it is not a matter for them, the controlling Labour group has launched an investigation and halted her cabinet appointment.

Alan Waters, leader of the council said: “I have been made aware of this issue and will be investigating as a matter of urgency.

"Councillor Button’s proposed position on my cabinet is on hold until the investigation concludes."

The picture could still be found on Ms Button's Facebook page on Friday morning, but has now been removed.

Attempts have been made to contact Ms Button for comment, but she has not responded.

Lucy Galvin, who leads the Green group at Norwich City Council said: "It is right that the Labour group investigates and acts on this quickly.

"This is a racial slur. Any kind of hate or racist speech is not acceptable anywhere, especially not in politics.”

Eastern Daily Press: Leader of the council Alan WatersLeader of the council Alan Waters (Image: Archant 2018)

The golliwog was a fictional character created by author Florence Kate Upton in 1873, appearing as a type of ragdoll.

The caricature came to be used for commercial purposes - including on Robertson's jams and marmalades, until it was dropped in 2002.

The image is widely considered to be an example of racist stereotyping.

This is not the first time Ms Button has caused controversy.

In December last year, she was heard bad-mouthing an opponent in an online council meeting.

The Greens' Lesley Grahame was interrupted during a discussion about alcohol licensing by an unmuted Ms Button who said, "Oh God almighty, this woman!"

Ms Button said that was meant with no malice and was a "careless outburst".

And in 2018 she apologised after writing a Facebook post in which she suggested an animal rights activist "might get rabies".