Once is a misfortune, but twice …? The Tory councillor who’s a repeat offender

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.

Read more by or more about , or .
This entry was posted in Local government.
Advert

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Matthew Harris
    @CarlPierce I don’t think that when black, Jewish, gay or Muslim people draw attention to a comment that reflects a perjorative unconscious bias on the writer...
  • David Allen
    "According to the headline in yesterday’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ (28 August) : “Ed Davey refuses to rule out Tory pact”." More deafening silence! Well,...
  • Peter Hirst
    If the political make up of the eu changes significantly would we be better to have stayed in? It probably depends whether you are more interested in global or ...
  • Mrs Rita Baker
    I agree with everything in this post. We need a national message as well as local ones. As I am currently disabled, waiting for a hip replacement and knee opera...
  • Peter Hirst
    An agreement with other countries to coordinate action when their interests collide would be a useful addition to the array of groups, organisations and bodies ...