The BBC reports:
Two Liberal Democrats who were disqualified from the Welsh assembly for being members of prohibited public bodies have been told they will not be charged.
Aled Roberts and John Dixon were told on Thursday that no action would be taken following a police inquiry.
The two were forced to give up their seats for being members of public bodies to which AMs cannot belong…
The party has blamed an “honest mistake”.
The Assembly’s Commissioner for Standards, Gerard Elias QC, will prepare a report on the two men’s cases so AMs can decide whether they should be allowed to be seated in the assembly.
2 Comments
Sorry, but again, this is about amateurism, this time in the paid party in wales. How can the party blame ‘an honest mistake’? I have no idea whether the error in omitting to advise candidates in winnable contests as to the election rules, and in failing to conduct the necessary pre-election checks could be called ‘honest’, but it was a mistake, and the repercussions could be with us for some time. Someone must be responsible, surely?
JM: In the case of at least one of the two, the case for ‘honest mistake’ is a very strong one – because the official guidance provided by the Electoral Commission and by others missed out the post in question from the list of disqualifying posts.