CALLS are being made for a Labour politician in Worcester to resign if she is is deemed to have breached the city council’s code of conduct.
As your Worcester News revealed two weeks ago Councillor Lynn Denham is at the centre of an in-house probe amid claims she used council resources to promote the Labour Party.
Conservative Councillor Jabba Riaz asked if she would quit her key cabinet role if she is found to have broke the rules, leading to a furious response from the authority’s leader.
During a full council meeting, he said: “Will the leader of the council ask the cabinet member for customer services to resign from her post if the standards committee finds she is guilty of breaching the code of conduct?”
It led to an angry retort from leader Councillor Adrian Gregson.
“I am actually quite appalled that you are using a full council meeting to raise this matter,” he said.
“The proceedings of the standards committee should be confidential until any conclusions are reached and that principle has already been breached, by who I don’t know, but I have my suspicions.
“Until that position is reached I will refrain from saying anything else on the matter.
“I suggest the councillor says nothing more on it unless he wants this to be seen as a malicious smear campaign.”
Coun Denham wrote to households using official city council letterhead paper asking them to oppose ditched proposals for a lap dancing club in The Butts.
The letter said she was being “helped” in her campaign by Adam Scott, a resident, and urged people to contact him if they shared her worries or wanted help drafting objection letters to the council.
Mr Scott is a Labour member, campaigner and party co-ordinator, as well as a party council candidate in previous elections.
Under the city council’s Code of Conduct, elected councillors are banned from using internal resources for political purposes.
It led to a complaint, which the city council is examining.
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