Nottinghamshire councillor appears to joke about putting 'knife to throat' of female colleague

Councillor Mike Introna is the Conservative county councillor for Retford West
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A serving Nottinghamshire councillor has been accused of joking about putting a "knife to the throat" of a female colleague in a WhatsApp conversation that has just come to light. The comments have been labelled "abhorrent" and were made in a private WhatsApp conversation around two years ago.

Yet the conversation has only just been leaked and given the severity of the message, it has led to questions about whether the councillor who appears to be responsible for the message should have been further reprimanded. It is understood that the WhatsApp group in which the comments were shared contained other serving councillors, one of whom has just decided to leak the conversation.

Most people involved in the conversation have had their names scrubbed out, but Councillor Mike Introna is shown as having seemingly made the most offensive remark. The Conservative county councillor for Retford East has refused to deny he sent the message, but described the matter as "nonsense."

The conversation begins with someone writing: "Could I suggest a fundraiser? TT in the stocks and rotten tomatoes to throw at a £1 per bag??"

A statement from the Conservative group who run Nottinghamshire County Council confirms that "TT" refers to Councillor Tracey Taylor, the cabinet member for children and families, who was first elected to the county council in 2017. The WhatsApp conversation then moves on to someone replying: "I would end up with no wages left", to which another person replies: "You and most of us too."

Councillor Introna then appears to have written: "Just a knife to her throat. I'll put £20 in." Asked to confirm or deny that he had sent the message, given that his name appears in the screenshot as 'Mike Introna', Councillor Introna said: "I could draw you that up in five minutes. I don't know why people do these things, I don't know why people have to be so low.

"I'm not commenting on stuff like this, it's nonsense. If you look at my record of what I do in my community, for people to put stuff out like this is just unfair.

"I get on fine with Tracey Taylor, we work well together." Councillor Introna was repeatedly asked to deny that he sent the message, to which he repeatedly said he was not "getting involved" and that he considered the matter a "malicious" attack against him.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Group said: "We're aware of these historic comments, which date back to roughly two years ago and are from a private WhatsApp group that is unrelated to the county council or our group. Clearly they are inappropriate, and at that time these comments were dealt with internally and action was taken.

"Apologies were also offered, and accepted at that time. Given that these posts are from so long ago and have already been dealt with, we don't intend to play this out again in the media.

"Particularly as it is clear that opposition councillors are doing so only for their own political benefit and at the expense of Councillor Taylor, who has every right to not have to dig through all of this for a second time. That said, all concerned can be assured that this was identified and dealt with firmly at that time, those concerned now have positive working relationships, and we consider the matter to be closed."

Yet a spokesperson for the Nottinghamshire County Independent Group said the comments raised questions about why Councillor Introna remained a member of the ruling Conservative group. The spokesperson, labelling the remarks "abhorrent", said: "It is a matter for Councillor Ben Bradley and the Conservatives whether Councillor Introna should remain a member of their group with responsibility for scrutinising issues relating to children and families.

"This is particularly important as knife crime and violence against women and girls are such a major issue." Councillor Introna was first elected to the county council in 2021 and currently serves as the chairman of its children and families select committee.