Richdales enormous criminal record, which covers 10 pages of A4 paper, includes convictions for assault, theft, causing death by dangerous driving, forgery, drugs offences, possession of an offensive weapon, and sex attacks against underage schoolgirls.

The Tory Party election campaign literature described Richdale as 'a family man' who had a 'compassionate personality'.

Tory chiefs were demanding that Richdale quit after he was exposed as a violent paedophile with a 41-year history of crimes. Pervert Robert Richdale got the backing of the local party faithful in leader Michael Howard’s own constituency despite having 30 convictions involving 65 offences and 5 jail sentences. These included a six-month sentence for indecently assaulting underage girls in 1973, and in 1997, he received a caution for a sexual crime involving a girl of 14.

Father-of-two Robert Richdale stood as a 'family man' in the elections for Folkestone town council last month. But since 1963, the 54-year-old has been convicted of crimes including causing death by dangerous driving, drugs offences, and sexual offences involving girls under 16. He has served a total of more than three years in prison.

Richdale told the Folkestone Herald that he received a caution for the most recent sexual crime, which involved a girl who visited his home in 1997. "She told me she was 15 but she was 14 really. She stayed at at my place and I woke up one morning to find her having sex with me, but I am not a sex case and I am not motivated by lust. I wish everyone was like me." he added.

In 1973 at Sheerness magistrates, Richdale - who lives in Folkestone - pleaded guilty to indecent assaults on two underage girls, and received a six-month sentence.

The Sun newspaper tracked the ex-councillor down to his flat in the Kent town, where he tried to get them to pay him £20,000 for talking to them. Standing in a pair of torn Jean shorts and showing his tattoos, he said: "Now this is out I’m screwed. I'll have to move, I can't stay here any more.

Richdale, during the interview with the Sun reporter, sat on his bed surrounded by soft toys that he keeps in his flat, added "She was the sort of girl who helped herself. I knew some sort of offence had taken place. But I’m not a sex case. I wish everyone was like me."

The chairman of the Folkestone and Hythe Conservative party, Jonathan Holborow, said Mr Richdale had been expelled immediately they discovered his criminal record, and called on him to resign as a councillor.

"This was a serious internal matter from Mr Richdale's complete failure to disclose matters vital to the electorate. We therefore decided that he could no longer be a member of the Conservative Association in Folkestone and Hythe. As chairman, I decided to expel him immediately. I called upon Mr Richdale to resign from Folkestone town council."

A spokesman for Michael Howard, whose constituency is Folkestone and Hythe, said "Mr Richdale is no longer a member of the local Conservative Association and no longer represents the Conservatives on the town council."

Mr Holborow said Mr Richdale, an unemployed chef, had eventually admitted his sexual offences to a Shepway Conservatives committee meeting, and had been expelled immediately on July the 5^th. "We are not allowed to do criminal record checks on prospective candidates. We had to take him on trust. Nominations papers do ask people to declare recent convictions, but only if they received more than a certain jail sentence." he said.

A biography of Richdale on the local party's website said he was a "family man with two children" and had a "firm, but compassionate personality". He studied chemistry and food science at Reading University. It continued "He is a good listener and is very passionate about Folkestone."