{"id":43631,"date":"2025-12-28T08:26:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T08:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/spike-in-complaints-against-leicestershire-county-councillors\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T08:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T08:26:34","slug":"spike-in-complaints-against-leicestershire-county-councillors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/spike-in-complaints-against-leicestershire-county-councillors\/","title":{"rendered":"Spike in complaints against Leicestershire county councillors"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Dan Martin<\/span>Leicester political reporter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Most recent complaints related to councillors’ use of social media<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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New figures have revealed a spike in the number of complaints about some county councillors in Leicestershire.<\/p>\n

The authority said 38 complaints had been made about members’ conduct in the six months after 1 May, when Reform UK took control of the authority.<\/a><\/p>\n

That compares to seven complaints in all of 2022\/23 and five complaints in 2023\/24.<\/p>\n

The council’s investigation process provides anonymity to the subject of complaints until a breach of the members’ code of conduct has been proved, but a Freedom of Information response has shown 35 of the 38 recent complaints were lodged against Reform UK politicians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reform UK council leader Dan Harrison told the BBC some of the complaints were politically motivated and came from opposition councillors – particularly from Conservative members. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Council leader Dan Harrison said he was sure the number of complaints would start to fall<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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“They don’t like the fact we beat them in the election and that we are getting things done, so they throw stones at us,” Harrison said.<\/p>\n

“So much of it is political.”<\/p>\n

However, Harrison, a former Tory councillor, added that some of his 24 members were still adapting to the rules that come with elected office.<\/p>\n

“It’s a new team,” he said: “I’m the only one of us who has any experience [of being a councillor].<\/p>\n

“They are learning every day. I know the number of complaints will start to come down.”<\/p>\n

Six of the 38 complaints did not reach the threshold to trigger further investigation, the council said, and the rest were “at an early stage in the process”.<\/p>\n

The figures show 18 of the complaints against Reform councillors came from members of the public, 10 from council staff and seven from other councillors.<\/p>\n

Of the 38 complaints, 26 related to social media use. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Conservative opposition leader Deborah Taylor said it was “unheard of” for so many staff to complain about councillors <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Two of the 38 complaints were made by members of the public against Tory councillors and one by a staff member against a councillor from an undisclosed party.<\/p>\n

Conservative opposition group council leader Deborah Taylor said: “All councillors get training in the code of conduct and social media use, but they [Reform] don’t understand the rules apply to them.<\/p>\n

“We’ve never had these levels of complaints and each one takes up time and money, because officers have to look into them all.<\/p>\n

“Those resources could be much better used.<\/p>\n

“What concerns me are the complaints from staff against their own administration. <\/p>\n

“That’s unheard of and I would be very concerned about that if I were the leader.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Bad blood’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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The council’s labour group leader Jewel Miah said: “It’s ineptitude. Reform have fallen foul of rules about being councillors that they don’t understand.<\/p>\n

“They just take things too far.” <\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat county councillor Sarah Hill, who has chaired some recent member conduct panel hearings, said: “There’s a keyboard warrior element to some of it and people who do like to troll. <\/p>\n

“But they also have bad blood with the Tories and that has led to complaints.”<\/p>\n

A county council spokesperson said: “Social media guidance is part of a range of advice and information given to new councillors.<\/p>\n

“This also includes training on the code of conduct and a specific training session has also been held on using social media.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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