Councillor complaints: 'Burst into flames in church' jibe and Corbyn attack among cases

A complaint was made against a Yorkshire councillor who allegedly told a person “I’m surprised when you go to church you don’t burst into flames”, a report has revealed.

Officials asked the Cottingham Parish Council member to apologise after the accusation in July last year. It was among 49 complaints about councillors recorded between May 2022 to April this year, according to the East Riding Council report.

In another case, a Withernsea town councillor was alleged to have said, while referring to a staff member, that they would slap them about a bit if they did not assist them. The councillor later resigned and no further action was taken.

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One of the most high-profile complaints mentioned in the report involved Ellen Van Der Kroon, a member of Market Weighton Town Council, who shouted down a man in a meeting, before kicking him while outside, in March 2022.

County Hall in Beverley, the headquarters of East Riding of Yorkshire Council.County Hall in Beverley, the headquarters of East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
County Hall in Beverley, the headquarters of East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Coun Van Der Kroon later appeared before magistrates in Hull, where she admitted assaulting 65-year-old David Gough and was handed a conditional discharge. The complaint was referred for investigation. The report does not identify the councillors subject to complaints.

But it includes details on a number of high-profile cases, some of which have been subject to Standards hearings where councillors have appeared in person. A number of complainants alleged that a co-ordinated campaign of abuse and harassment had been orchestrated by a number of Cottingham parish councillors, and accused them of not updating their registered interests.

East Riding Council reminded the councillors concerned about keeping their register up to date but took no action on the other complaints.

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Other cases listed include that of an East Riding councillor who was spoken to by the authority’s monitoring officer over an allegation that they failed to declare an interest at a meeting and misused their position.

Meanwhile, a monitoring officer wrote to Bishop Wilton Parish Council, following a complaint alleging that one of its members had bullied, intimidated and attacked a person.

The officer reminded parish councillors that they should act professionally and respectfully towards others and consider how their words and actions might be perceived, but otherwise took no further action.

No action was taking over a complaint alleging that an East Riding councillor had made offensive remarks about “foreigners” while speaking on BBC Look North.

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The report shows that, of the 49 complaints lodged in the year up to April, 41 were considered and four were referred on for investigation. Two investigations were referred for Standards Committee hearings.

Of these, one concerned former councillor Paul Nickerson, who shared a tweet containing a doctored picture of Jeremy Corbyn at the scene of a terror attack. This attracted 512 complaints and prompted a lawsuit.

In November, the committee found Coun Nickerson had breached the authority’s Code of Conduct for members, by failing to treat others with respect and bringing his office into disrepute.

As a result, the committee censured Coun Nickerson, who was suspended from the Conservative group before standing down as a councillor at the local elections in May.

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Last November, Mr Nickerson said: “Regarding the tweet, I was able to explain to the committee that I clearly made a misjudgement that it was satirical in nature, the type of thing you might see on Have I Got News For You, and that’s why I forwarded it on.”

In the other case referred for a standards hearing, the committee ruled that there had been a breach around the declaring of interests. There was no sanction for the breach, but the committee recommended that all councillors review their entries in the authority’s Register of Interests.

A total of 12 complaints were referred for other action, which includes measures such as offering councillors training, mediation, changing procedures and reminders about conduct.

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