Flintshire Council bosses accused of ‘misogynistic bullying’ by AM

North Wales Conservative AM Mark Isherwood slammed Flintshire Council bosses during a speech in the Welsh Assembly – alleging his wife Hilary was bullied during her 13-year stretch as a councillor.

Mr Isherwood, whose wife lost her Llanfynydd seat during the May elections, launched a scathing attack on the council’s chief executive Colin Everett and deputy leader Bernie Attridge.

The comments were criticised by council bosses.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: “My wife’s 13-year career as a Flintshire councillor was too often characterised by misogynistic bullying.

“In her first week there, she had a private meeting with the monitoring officer, asking him to ask officers to stop referring to women councillors as ‘Mrs’, when they referred to all male councillors as ‘Cllr’.

“The next day, she was on the front page of the local paper, under the heading ‘Don’t call me ‘Mrs’.’

“More recently, the Labour deputy leader of the council resorted to social media to make misogynist bullying comments against her, and then reneged on the remedies agreed under the Ombudsman’s Local Resolution procedure.”

Mr Isherwood’s comment refers to a Twitter comment made by Cllr Attridge in 2014 in which he called Cllr Isherwood as “a bitter twisted Tory”, before adding “Fir coat no Knic.... Comes to mind!”

During his speech on Wednesday, Mr Isherwood went on to attack chief executive Colin Everett, who is also the county’s returning officer.

He said: “In the recent local government elections, the supposedly independent chief executive and returning officer emailed her with a threatening email, stating if she didn’t remove evidence-based, party-political content from her leaflet, he “would not want to be in the position of having to place a corrective piece in the press and on social media”.

“This, and much more, made her ill, subject to anxiety attacks and no longer able to fight back.

“Will you agree that this sort of political culture must end if we’re going to bring more women forward into local government, and if you do agree that, what action – what party-wide action – are you going to take?”

Cllr Aaron Shotton, leader of Flintshire Council, was critical of the comments made.

He said: “I find the comments by Mark Isherwood in the Senedd chamber quite bizarre.

“For an Assembly Member to make such a serious allegation against the presiding officer where he is questioning his independence is regrettable, especially when he does not have the chance to reply.”

Cllr Shotton said the comments revolve around a complaint made regarding Mrs Isherwood’s election leaflets.

He said: “I am aware that the chief executive in his role as presiding officer has to deal with electoral complaints.

“She was provided with advice following an election complaint.

“She doesn’t have to follow that advice, but I believe she said she was going to review her leaflets and that was it.”

In response to Mr Isherwood’s remarks in the chamber, the cabinet secretary for finance and local government Mark Drakeford said: “I think there is an obligation on all local authorities, political leadership and professional leadership, to make sure that a context is created in which people from all sorts of backgrounds feel comfortable in taking on the responsibilities of elected office, and that the contributions they make are properly recognised and respected.

“In the White Paper that I have published on the reform of local government, we propose new obligations to be placed on leaders of political groups within local authorities to uphold the standards of conduct that we would expect to see, and to make sure [there are] respectful relationships between elected members that recognise diversity and celebrate it, rather than attempt to eliminate it are put at the heart of the way we conduct local government here in Wales.”

Mrs Isherwood said: “My life has been turned upside down by the misogynistic attitude that I have encountered while being a Flintshire county councillor.

“I chose to stand as a county councillor to make people’s lives better, particularly those who are vulnerable.

“In the 13 years I’ve been on the council I have always been a particular advocate for people’s mental health issues and those who are most vulnerable in society.

“It never crossed my mind that I would become one of these people because of the impact its Neanderthal way of working can have on women. My concern regarding the council’s chief executive was that his recent intervention related to the party political content of an election leaflet, where one cannot wear two hats.

“I am slowly recovering and beginning to feel more like my old self, after exhibiting the symptoms of post-traumatic stress as if I had been in an abusive relationship.”

A Flintshire Council spokesman said the comments allegedly made by Cllr Attridge following a meeting of the council in November 2014 received wide coverage in the local and regional media at the time.

“The council’s response was to attempt to resolve the complaint confidentially and amicably by using what we call the ‘local resolution procedure’,” they added.

“This procedure is designed to resolve a complaint through the cooperation of all involved to prevent an escalation to the ombudsman.

“As far as the council is concerned this complaint is closed.”

“The returning officer for a local county election typically receives and has to resolve numerous complaints between candidates and agents during a busy election period,” he added.

“Flintshire is no different. Where a complaint is made about the unfair portrayal of the council in campaigning material, advice is offered privately to the candidate responsible for the material.

“Local candidates were encouraged to present factual information about the council to the electorate fairly and accurately in their campaigning.

“The then Cllr Hilary Isherwood was involved in one such complaint and was offered private advice.

“The advice was advisory, was not enforceable, and was offered in an attempt to mediate and resolve the complaint.”