Hawker quits Tories after conduct row (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hawker quits Tories after conduct row

A TORY councillor has quit the party amid a series of bitter rows with fellow members. Russell Hawker, Westbury town and West Wiltshire District councillor, said he was upset at a lack of party support after Cllr Bill Braid reported him to the Standards Board for England.

Cllr Braid accused his colleague of disrespecting fellow councillors and failing to declare personal or prejudicial interests.

After an initial assessment the Standards Board, an independent body regulating the behaviour of councillors, decided not to investigate any of the claims made against Cllr Hawker further.

But Cllr Hawker felt the management committee of the local branch of the Conservative party had not defended him against accusations he described as "malicious and disgusting."

He has now decided to continue serving on both councils as an independent councillor and has called for Cllr Braid to resign. Criticising his ex-party, he said: "They appear not to care a fig that false allegations were designed to bring me into disgrace and to get me disqualified as a councillor.

"Being independent, I am able to vote on matters without being tied into any party political lines. No one party has a monopoly of good ideas, so I will vote purely according to what is best for Westbury."

He said he still respects the majority of Conservative councillors and would consider rejoining the party if certain members resigned.

Cllr Braid reported his colleague to the Standards Board in July when he felt Cllr Hawker had abused his position.

Defending his decision to report his colleague, Cllr Braid said: "Under Standard Board rules if you believe someone may have breached the rules there is an obligation to report it or else you are breaching the rules yourself.

"As it happens they decided it was not serious enough to warrant an investigation.

"It is very sad and should never have come to this. Cllr Hawker is now calling for my resignation but I will continue to serve the people of Westbury."

A spokesman for the board said there would not be any further investigation into the accusations.

"When we receive an allegation an initial assessment is conducted to decide whether there has been a breach and if there should be an investigation," she said.

"In this case it was deemed to be insufficiently serious to go any further."