Desborough mayor says he’s will not quit after fellow councillors stage walk out
The Labour group staged a walk out at last night's Desborough Town Council meeting
By Sarah Ward
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Desborough’s mayor says he won’t be quitting after a walk out in protest about derogatory comments he made about a fellow councillor.
Last month Desborough Town councillor and North Northamptonshire councillor Bill McElhinney quit the Conservative Party after sending a message to a resident calling fellow town councillor Labour’s Andy Coleman a ‘prick’ and a ‘sad wanker’.
Cllr Coleman has put in a standards complaint about Cllr McElhinney, which is being looked at by NNC’s legal officer, and last night he boycotted the town council meeting along with Liberal Democrat Alan Window.
Cllr Coleman’s three Labour colleagues attended the meeting, but after Cllr Tim Healy’s request for Cllr McElhinney to stand down was refused, the trio quit the meeting.
Today, Cllr McElhinney, who now sits as an independent, says he regretted the comments he posted in a message about Cllr Coleman ‘but they [the Labour group] are making as much of it as they possibly can.’
He said he has put in a counter complaint about Cllr Coleman who he has accused of double standards due to his own comments about public figures on social media.
He said:
“I won’t stand down.
“He [cllr Coleman] can put what he wants on Facebook, on a public profile.”
In response, Cllr Coleman said:
“My sole complaint is that in the position of first citizen he should not be sending something to a resident that basically has a go at another councillor. It’s as simple as that.
“Probably if you search through my social media posts, there has been language that’s been strong, but not against fellow councillors. There’s probably loads about Boris Johnson.”
He continued:
“We [the Labour group] believe his position is untenable. I know there is a petition being raised to get rid of him. Which I have not got involved with, as it is not my place to do it. But I think the town deserves better and I don’t think he should be at the forefront of our town council. It brings the town council into disgrace.”
Cllr Coleman said the Labour group may decide to continue the boycott of the town council. Besides the Labour councillors and Cllr McElhinney, there are six Conservatives on the town council. They did not join the walk out.
Is this misconduct in a public office?
While I have my own thoughts on Cllr Coleman, this is not a tit for tat scenario. If Cllr McElhinney believes Cllr Coleman has broken the code of conduct then the appropriate action would be to raise it with the Monitoring Officer, not badmouth them to residents.
Just shows he is a petty, nasty man unsuited for public office