Friday brief: MP calls for Tory councillor to leave politics after wife’s prison sentence
Plus news from across Northants ahead of the weekend.
Northampton South MP Mike Reader has called on a Tory councillor whose wife was jailed yesterday for stirring racial hatred to stand down.
Lucy Connolly, 41, was sentenced to 31 months for a racist tweet she published during the summer riots inciting people to burn hotels housing asylum seekers.
The mother, who was also a registered childminder at the time, also wrote ‘if that makes me racist, so be it‘.
She made the social media post on July 29, the day three girls were killed at a holiday club in Southport. After false information circulated online a number of riots were sparked across the country, with fears of violence from far right groups. On August 4 a mob tried to set fire to a Holiday Inn housing immigrants in Rotherham.
A feared riot in Northampton did not happen after members of the community came out to protect the immigration law firm named online as a target.
Connolly was arrested by Northants Police in August and has been in custody since the summer. After pleading guilty she was sentenced today via video link to Birmingham Crown Court. The court heard she had made other posts and forwarded one by far right agitator Tommy Robinson.
Her husband, Cllr Ray Connolly represents the Delapre and Rushmere ward, is vice chair of the adult social care scrutiny committee. After his wife was charged, he defended her and said she was the ‘opposite’ of what she had said online and the incident had been traumatic for the family. He said she had ‘overstepped’ the mark. He said he’d been supported by fellow conservative councillors and told not to resign.
Mike Reader said:
“This conviction shows how important it is that all of us in politics contribute to high standards in public discourse. As cllr Connolly repeatedly defended the comments made, I hope he will now do the right thing and resign from West Northamptonshire Council.”
Leader of the Labour group on the council, Cllr Wendy Randall also thinks he should go and said a number of ethnic minority councillors feel uncomfortable with him in the council chamber.
NN Journal has attempted to contact Cllr Connolly. Leader of the council, Cllr Adam Brown is yet to comment.
News in brief
Some long standing Labour councillors have lost the chance to stand again in the upcoming unitary elections.
West Northamptonshire unitary councillors in Northampton wards, councillors Winston Strachan, Janice Duffy, Paul Joyce, Jamal Alwahabi and Cathrine Russell were unsuccessful at the appointment panels held during the past two weekends. Local party members decided to put their votes elsewhere, with new hopefuls knocking them off to go forward onto the ballot for May’s elections.
The party is selecting for the seats where they think they have a strong chance of winning, so the unlucky councillors may decide to try and win in other wards.
Boundary changes will also come into force and the number of councillors on the West unitary will drop from 93 to 76.
Cllr Emma Roberts, who has been the Labour councillor for Delapre and Rushmere and at one point had been tipped as a future parliamentary candidate for the town, has decided not to stand again due to family and work commitments. Her partner Lee Barron was elected as the labour MP for Corby and East Northants in July.
A familiar face who may be returning to local politics is former Northampton North MP Sally Keeble, who has been selected to stand in the Dallington Spencer ward. Current Dallington councillors, husband and wife duo Terri Eales and Gareth Eales will not be standing for re-election. Cllr Danielle Stone, who was elected as the new police, fire and crime commissioner this summer is also understood to be standing down as a councillor ahead of the elections.
An appeal has been lodged over plans to build new homes at the back of a pub car park which was thrown out by North Northants Council (NNC) earlier this year.
If approved, it would’ve seen open space to the rear of The Woolcomber, on St John’s Road, Kettering, used to build a trio of three-bed homes. Access to the properties could only be reached by driving past the pub and its entire parking facilities.
Applicant Punch Partnership Limited said the activity of the public house would remain the same and that the scheme would even benefit the wider local economy.
The homes would take up some existing parking spaces at the back of the hardstanding, but spaces added to the front of the property would mean the construction would only result in a difference of five fewer parking spaces.
NNC ultimately decided to refuse permission for the plans, saying that the scheme’s layout would not enhance the area or provide adequate living conditions. It also pointed out issues with the access to the homes through the park calling it “contrived” and “lengthy”.
This is the second time similar plans have been refused by NNC as a slightly different scheme for the three car park homes was turned down in 2023. An appeal was lodged on this also but was later withdrawn.
The government’s planning inspectorate opened the appeal on Tuesday. No decision date has been set at the time of publishing, however the final comments from the council and the appellant will be due at the start of December.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Protestors are questioning why a Parkrun venture must be sold off to pay for housing.
The draft Daventry masterplan sets out plans to revamp the town centre, but allocates the Eastern Way playing fields for 150 homes to do so.
Elizabeth Scott, co-founder of the Eastern Way campaign group, has launched a petition this month, which already has hundreds of signatures on it against the plans.
Talking about the housing proposals, she said: “WNC tells us that the land must be sold to raise funds for ‘improvements’ to our town centre as detailed in the Daventry Masterplan 2024.
“The details provided are sketchy and we believe that no greening of the High Street could ever compensate for the loss of a large open field which hosts nature on our doorstep.”
Daventry MP Stuart Andrew attended a recent public meeting on the plans to listen to the views of local residents. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he has been communicating “the strength of feeling” on the matter to WNC and will continue to do so.
Cllr Dan Lister, WNC’s cabinet member for local economy, culture and leisure said: “Although Daventry has pockets of deprivation, unfortunately it doesn’t qualify for current government funding. We are exploring various funding options and one way of funding elements of the masterplan is using proceeds from the sale of the Eastern Way and Ashby Road.”
He said developing the land would help finance the aims of the masterplan, including:
Improving connections for pedestrians and cyclists to the town centre, Daventry Country Park and residential areas
Improving leisure, community and playground facilities
Enhancing lighting, signage, street furniture and accessibility to improve retail and nighttime offer for residents
Meeting local housing need close to the town centre
The council has not yet decided whether to endorse the masterplan. The suggested next steps for the Daventry vision will be considered by the council’s cabinet this autumn.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
Cllr Connolly has been in the national press opining that his wife is not a criminal. Well, she clearly is.
Standing by her is one thing and in its own way is quite noble of him.
On the other hand, Cllr Connolly's persistent refusal to acknowledge that his wife's actions were simply wrong raise significant question marks over his judgement, and must surely render him unfit to hold public office.
So the Conservatives are standing firm in supporting Cllr Connolly who backed his wife's inflammatory remarks about the riots.
So they are quite relaxed about endorsing what she said?