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Which Sector? > Local Authorities > Renfrewshire Council > LA/R/145 and LA/R/147

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Complaint nos. LA/R/145 & LA/R/147 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Terry Kelly of Renfrewshire Council

1. Complaint numbers LA/R/145 and LA/R/147 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Terry Kelly ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular, section 2 on Respect and paragraph 16 on Annex C on Local representative.

3. The person complaining ("the first complainant") in LA/R/145, alleged that the respondent wrote a disrespectful letter to a local newspaper which, among other things, contained the phrase "...the Nats and their malign supporters", that he signed the letter in his capacity as Councillor and therefore as a representative of the Council and that, in doing so, publicly insulted many supporters of the Scottish Nationalist Party in Renfrewshire. The person complaining ("the second complainant") in LA/R/147, alleged that Councillor Kelly's conduct and the terms of his letter conveyed a negative image of all participants in the political process.

4. In the letter which Councillor Kelly wrote to the newspaper on 3 December 2004, he referred to an article which had been printed on 26 November 2004 headed 'Behave or Else, Politicians Told'. The thrust of the article was that, because of the number of complaints about Renfrewshire Labour politicians, the General Secretary of the Labour Party was coming to meet Labour councillors in February 2005. It also contained comments about complaints previously made against Councillor Kelly.

5. In his letter to the newspaper, Councillor Kelly said the General Secretary was not coming to Renfrewshire because of the number of complaints. He said that the high numbers of complaints against Labour councillors were mainly bogus and came from the 'Nats and their malign supporters'. He contradicted some other things which had been said in the newspaper article, referring to a council meeting when some 'cowards' in the gallery were abusing himself, his daughter and other Labour councillors.

6. Responding to the complaints, Councillor Kelly said it was not clear to him what he was specifically being accused of, but he assumed it was the use of the words 'malign' and 'cowards'. He said that he does regard some SNP members and supporters as malign. Referring to an incident involving his daughter, who is also a Renfrewshire councillor, he said that he regards any man who shouts abuse at a young woman councillor from the public gallery as a coward. (This was not a reference to SNP supporters).

7. Having considered the complaints, I concluded that no breach of the Code had occurred. The provisions of Annex C of the Code (which sets out a protocol for relations between councillors and council employees) were not considered relevant to the complaint. Nor were the provisions in section 2 of the Code relating to Respect for other councillors or employees held to be applicable in the circumstances of the case. Councillor Kelly had responded to an article which, in his view, was somewhat inaccurate. He was entitled to respond in his capacity as councillor since that was the basis on which newspaper comments about him were made.

8. The right to free speech remains a central tenet of the way in which politics is conducted in Scotland, but it is not an unfettered right. While the Code sets out some rules for conduct and requires all councillors to respect other councillors and indeed political groups, it does not prescribe the terms in which councillors should conduct political debate or express public opinions. That is not to say that every public utterance of a councillor, regardless of veracity or circumstances, would escape criticism under the Code.

9. In this case, however, it was not considered that Councillor Kelly was representing his Council or that his actions amounted to a breach, and I concluded that Councillor Terry Kelly had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

10. Councillors are nevertheless advised that the introduction to the Code of Conduct reminds all politicians that the public has a high expectation of councillors and the way in which they should conduct themselves in undertaking their duties in the Council. Although Councillor Kelly was not carrying out a public duty, many people would regard his choice of words and description of political opponents as less than acceptable. Members of the public may well agree that some of the contents of Councillor Kelly's letter conveys a negative image of the political process. Events show that, from time to time in the political arena, councillors still have not heeded the public's expectations.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
06 May 2005