Leading councillor breached code of conduct at 'generally inappropriate' town hall meeting and apologises

David Whipp of Pendle Council
-Credit: (Image: Robbie MacDonald LDRS)


A Pendle councillor breached a code of conduct about behaviour by forcefully opening a door which other councillors were behind, a standards meeting has found.

David Whipp, a leading Lib-Dem councillor, breached the code at a full council meeting in 2022. But there was also "generally inappropriate behaviour" amongst others, Pendle Council's Standards Committee has decided.

The standards hearing said based on the evidence provided that, on the balance of probabilities, Coun Whipp applied "undue and excessive force" to a council chamber door at Nelson Town Hall when opening it at the full council meeting in October 2022. The councillors who complained were Conservatives David Albin, Jenny Purcell, Ash Sutcliffe and Kevin Salter.

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The Standards Committee considered Coun Whipp's behaviour to be breach of the code of conduct for councillors. This was because opening the door with such force against others standing behind it amounted to failing to treat fellow councillors with respect, a council spokesperson said this week.

Pendle Council's code of conduct states: "You must always treat members of the public, other councillors, employees of the council, employees and representatives of partner organisations, and volunteers for the council with respect. Respect means politeness and courtesy in behaviour, speech and the written word. As a councillor you can express, challenge, criticise and disagree with views, ideas, opinions and policies in a robust but civil manner."

However, Pendle's Standards Committee also noted that there was "generally inappropriate behaviour" amongst others in the council chamber which was not befitting of the role of councillor, the council spokesperson said. Several witnesses at the meeting said they had not seen Coun Whipp kick the door, the spokesperson added.

The Standards Committee said the findings about Coun Whipp’s conduct should be published, reported to the council and the council be recommended to censure Coun Whipp. He will be asked to make a written apology to all councillors at the next full council meeting.

Following the decision, Coun Whipp was asked this week for comment by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. He said some other councillors had given different statements, such as Yasser Iqbal, Zafar Ali, Naeem Ashraf and Chris Church.

He added: "All the witnesses testified that I hadn't kicked the council chamber door. All except Coun Yasser Iqbal, who was chairing the meeting, were on the same side of the door as I was and actually able to see what happened. Nevertheless, the committee's decision was that I'd breached the code of conduct. I apologised at the meeting and will do so at the full council."

A second standards complaint against Coun Whipp by Conservative Coun Ash Sutcliffe is due to be heard at a different meeting likely in October, the spokesperson added.

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