Welsh Assembly Member Mick Bates was yesterday convicted of three counts of assault and three public order breaches following an incident earlier this year.
BBC News reports:
The AM for Montgomeryshire, Mick Bates, has apologised to NHS staff after being found guilty of public order offences and common assault.
Cardiff Magistrates Court heard he was abusive to paramedics and hospital staff, after injuring his head during a night out in the city.
Bates was ordered to pay a total of £5,490 pounds in fines, costs and compensation.
He says he will remain an independent AM for Montgomeryshire until he retires.
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams said,
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are clear that this conviction for a public order offence is incompatible with the high standards we expect of our elected representatives.
Proceedings have begun to terminate his membership of the party.
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James Baillie
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Cassie
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10 Comments
I assume it was decided that he hadn’t experienced temperament change following the head injury. Is there not a mechanism in the Assembly to unseat members convicted of such offences?
>Is there not a mechanism in the Assembly to unseat members convicted of such offences?
He’s retiring in the spring anyway. I doubt the voters of Montgomeryshire want a by-election, then a general (Welsh) election in May. Especially with the AV referendum AND the referendum on Assembly powers.
Yes, Cassie, that’s fair.
Very sad. Mick was a good representative and a more loyal member of the party than another member for the same constituency that I could mention.
Tony Greaves
Sorry – what I meant to say was that such an event is a good reason for deselection as a candidate but expulsion from the party? That is ridiculous and vindictive (and very illiberal) in my view.
Tony Greaves
Sorry – I don’t agree. His Montgomeryshire constiuents have been embarrassed long enough by Mr Bates and his ex-colleague Mr Opik. We would be happy to have a bi-election as we deserve better representation in Cardiff.
How he has the nerve to say he wants to continue as an Independent AM after his guilty conviction – is frankly beyond belief. He should stop further embarrassment to himself, Montgomeryshire and his ex party and stand down immediately.
My mother has worked in A&E for many years, and she dreads Friday and Saturday nights as that is when they have all the alcohol related incidents pouring in. It’s no joke dealing with drunken yobs!
Yes, i agree with Tony Greaves. I have THREE Tory convicts serving on my local District Council (South Norfolk). They all had the whip suspended temporarily, till the publicity died down, then were reinstated. There appears to have been no question of expelling them from the Tory Party.
I suppose that a member who has “let the side down” can be expelled from his group or assembly party or whatever by their decision. It is up to the rules of the council or parliament or whatever as to whether THEY expel him, it is not a matter where the party who put him there has any direct say (as witness two UKIP MEPs dumped by their party for bad behaviour, who still remained MEPs).
The question of expulsion from the wider party, is, in the first instance, for the local party and is subject to appeal to higher bodies within the regional/state or federal party.
And all this can take time.
Councils generally have rules about no by-elections for 6 months before a general election, so expelling a member of the council or assembly in that period just leaves the electors without a representative at all, which seems the worst situation of all for the people.
@Terry Gilbert
We also had a convicted Tory on our council for some periods, who was also, even when not a councillor, a real power in their local party because of his wealth and financial contributions.
“Councils generally have rules about no by-elections for 6 months before a general election, so expelling a member of the council or assembly in that period just leaves the electors without a representative at all, which seems the worst situation of all for the people.”
I find almost hilarious the suggestion that the people of Montgomeryshire will suffer in any way through not having their very own AM for a few months. How exactly are they going to suffer (or care, or even notice)?
>We would be happy to have a bi-election as we deserve better representation in Cardiff.
No one’s excusing what he did. It’s the practicalities. Whoever was elected in the by-election would then have to stand for re-election in May. I doubt any party wants the expense or hassle of that.
Don’t hold your breath on the Assembly doing anything on any AM, though.
Mohammad Asghar was elected as a Plaid AM. Woke up one morning 12 months ago and decided he was a Tory.
I think he should have quit the Assembly, with whoever was next on the Plaid list taking his place. Instead, he crossed the floor and for a year, the Senedd has had one more Tory than was elected in 2007 by the people of Wales.
If the Assembly couldn’t be bothered to do anything about that….