Calls are being made for Conservative Isle of Wight councillor, Chris Whitehouse, to resign from his position as ward councillor for Newport West.
Cllr Whitehouse, who is a Papal Knight, has been accused of a breach of the Elected Members Code of Conduct and asked to resign by senior member of the Isle of Wight Council Executive, Phil Jordan.
Told the deputy leader to “f*** off”
A press release issued by the Independent Group of councillors today (Monday) reveals that in an email exchange, Cllr Whitehouse,
“Resorted to profanities and swearing at the Deputy Leader of the Isle of Wight Council in an exchange over absence from the Island and County Hall and his non-attendances at some meetings due to conflicting commitments.
“Councillor Whitehouse called the Deputy Leader a “callous b*****d” and told him to “f*** off”.”
OnTheWight has sought and gained assurances from Cllr Jordan that those emails exist. It’s understood that senior council officers have also seen them.
OnTheWight has contacted Cllr Whitehouse about all of the allegations, to which he replied, “most of it is untrue”. We subsequently asked specifically about the swearing, but at time of publishing he hasn’t responded.
As reported last week, Cllr Jordan claimed Cllr Whitehouse had attended just two of 51 Members’ briefings held since June 2013. OnTheWight wrote to Cllr Whitehouse on this last week and he did not deny the claims.
Self-declared plan to rig past elections and ballots
Cllr Chris Whitehouse, who lives in Totland and works in London as a PR consultant, declared at a recent Isle of Wight council meeting that he was once a member of Socialist Workers Party, when an activist in the Bradford Metropolitan City Council.
He admitted to IW council members during a debate on the Trade Union Bill that,
“I was a Trade Union rep and it was part of our plan to rig any election going and to rig every ballot going and to get everybody out on strike every day we possibly could. That’s what we existed for.”
Jordan: Astonished, dismayed and concerned
Cllr Phil Jordan speaking on behalf of the Independent ruling group of the Isle of Wight Council, said,
“I was astonished to hear Cllr Whitehouse’s comments and I am dismayed and very concerned about his actions.”
Cllr Jordan said Cllr Whitehouse’s words,
“Plainly breach the elected members Code of Conduct has caused great consternation amongst Councillors and strikes at the heart of the integrity and honesty required to be in Public office.”
Cllr Jordan also claimed “accusations and abusive behaviour” had been conducted through Cllr Whitehouse’s Twitter account.
Around the General Election period
Questions over Cllr Whitehouse’s behaviour have arisen before, in particular when, captured on film, he was alleged to be drunk and abusive at the general election count earlier this year. Cllr Whitehouse later claimed to the CP that he wasn’t drunk.
Cllr Whitehouse was Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Andrew Turner’s acting election campaign manager for a short while earlier this year and also responsible for the MP’s campaign launch.
Jordan: Cllr Whitehouse’s behaviour “has no place in our Local Authority”
Cllr Phil Jordan concluded by saying,
“Most Councillors are honest, hard-working people of integrity that work within their communities for the benefit of all. Behaviour of the type exhibited by Cllr Whitehouse has no place in our Local Authority and must call into question his ability to continue in his role as a member of the Isle of Wight Council.
“I am publicly asking him to resign immediately before his actions cause any further damage to the reputation of the Council. I have spoken to the Leader of the Conservative group on the Council about these concerns, but he has failed to take any action in respect of them.”
Cllr Whitehouse’s response
OnTheWight has contacted Cllr Whitehouse for a response.
He replied,
“I’ve sent it to my lawyers. Most of it is untrue.”
We followed up with, “Is this untrue? – Councillor Whitehouse called the Deputy Leader a “callous b*****d” and told him to “f*** off”.” – but have yet to hear back.
Update 12.07pm
Cllr Whitehouse finally forwarded a detailed response to the call for his resignation.
Cllr Whitehouse’s first response this morning was to say that he was consulting with his lawyers and stating that “Most of it is untrue”.
Given details of what was untrue aren’t provided in his very lengthy statement below, OnTheWight has asked him if “Most of it is untrue” was a rash statement that he now can’t stand up, or will he now give details.
He said,
“Cllr Stubbings gloated that my very serious illness was “a cold”. I always stand up to bullies and I stand by my description of that behavior. Mocking mental illness is never acceptable, indeed it is cowardly and despicable.”
“Cllr Jordan is plumbing new depths in political depravity after his petulant outburst at the recent meeting of the Full Council. I don’t intend to dignify his nonsense with a detailed response. What I will say is that this dysfunctional so-called “independent” administration has lost all sense of proportion and reality. Instead of focusing on delivering services they are resorting to desperate character assassination. They are angry at me for pointing out publicly that nearly £300,000 has already been spent on consulting firm Atkins without approval of either the Executive or the Full Council, and that from an administration which pledged to end “delegated” decision-making. Another false promise broken. Cllr Jordan has clearly lost all sense of control and proportion in managing his brief.
“The assertion that I was drunk on election night 7 months ago is old news and is completely untrue as most people have always known. As I have openly explained to colleagues at the time and since, I was under the influence of two powerful medications as I was extremely unwell, an illness about which Cllr Stubbings was sufficiently callous subsequently to gloat. I stand by my description of his behavior. My illness lasted several months, but thankfully is now behind me and I am seeking to get on with life.
“Before I was elected, I made it clear it was my intention to serve only one term. My priorities were to ensure that David Pugh was not the Conservative Group Leader because of his record in that post and his subversive campaign to undermine the Island MP, that Steve Beynon ceased to be chief executive of the council because of his demonstrable failures in post, and that our schools improved. I’ve achieved the first two objectives and I’m working on the third. I’m delighted that my ward of Newport West is home to the Island’s best performing high school, Christ the King, and the most rapidly improving high school, Carisbrooke College.
“As to my twitter account, that has been suspended pending a broadcast by ITV to which I have contributed an interview following intimidation and threats of physical violence against me and my colleagues.
“And that members of the Socialist Workers Party, which I was at the time before seeing the light, sought to infiltrate trades unions in the 1970s and 1980s to influence policy and practice is hardly newsworthy!”
Update 14.52
Swapped ‘then’ for ‘as well as for’ in the intro text.
