A court ruling in London that backed a British political officer’s unpopular views on gender has been handed down by a former judge from Bermuda’s Supreme Court.

Stephen Hellman issued what was called a “landmark” judgment on Friday in the Mayor's and City County Court in London.

Mr Justice Hellman, who retired from the Bermuda courts in 2018, ruled in favour of Shahrar Ali, a former deputy leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, who took the party to court for firing him in February 2022 as its spokesman for policing and domestic safety.

The lawsuit was the first case of an ex-official suing his own party over “gender-critical beliefs”.

The party denied discrimination, arguing that Mr Ali was sacked for being “divisive”.

Dr Ali’s comments, which included calling biological gender “immutable”, were said by the party to be contrary to its stance on transgender rights.

His lawyers accused Green officials of colluding to kick him out of the job.

They also accused the party of being liable for "unfounded accusations of transphobia" against Dr Ali by its former co-leader, Sian Berry, who announced her resignation in 2021 over "inconsistency" among party figures over transgender rights.

After the ruling, Dr Ali took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to hail it as “huge” and upholding the right to “gender critical beliefs” after the court found that his dismissal had been procedurally unfair.

Mr Justice Hellman wrote that it was not possible to exclude the possibility that Dr Ali had been targeted over his views on transgender issues.

The court also awarded him £91,000.

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The Guardian reported that while Mr Justice Hellman sided with Dr Ali on one count, his ruling had been more nuanced than its portrayal as a victory against political correctness.

The judge dismissed other complaints and found that, although the manner of Dr Ali’s dismissal had been unfair, political parties were nonetheless able to dismiss a spokesman for advocating non-party views — as long as the removal was carried out fairly.

However, the court ruled that Dr Ali’s beliefs were protected under Section 101 of Britain’s Equality Act.

Mr Justice Hellman was appointed to Bermuda’s Supreme Court in 2012, with a background in criminal law that included financial crime — particularly money laundering and compliance issues.

He also sat part-time on the Caymanian courts.