Six months ago Lib Dem Voice featured Mrs Christine Roberts, a Tory councillor in the Cotswolds who landed herself in hot water after publicly labelling her Lib Dem opponents “morons”, and then refusing to apologise. Well, it turns out this wasn’t the first time she’d made gratutiously insults – only on the other occasions it was her residents who complained of her behaviour.
The local paper reports:
FORMER Fairford mayor Chris Roberts has been found guilty of breaching the councillors code of conduct following her involvement in the Village Green saga. … Fairford Environmental Societ members Suzanne Jones and Mark Wardle complained to the Standards Committee that Cllr Roberts had made unsubstantiated and untrue allegations in a letter to Gloucestershire County Council.
Cllr Roberts appeared in front of the Standards Committee last Thursday, where it was decided that there were a number of violations of the Code of Conduct. It was recommended that she undergoes further training on the code, which sets out how councillors should behave.
Lib Dems have little truck with the Standards Board of England: we say voters, not quangos, should decide the fate of their elected representatives. But it’s right that councils should have their own standards committees to ensure the public has redress where councillors’ abuse their positions, as happened in this case.
Let’s hope the voters of Fairford take their first opportunity to give Mrs Roberts an overdue farewell.
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