Updated statement from Rutland County Council Conservative Leader Oliver Hemsley regarding Racist posts on Councillor Richard Alderman's Facebook page.

Updated statement from Rutland County Council Conservative Leader Oliver Hemsley regarding posts on Councillor Richard Alderman's Facebook page.


The Council leader has called for the resignation of the newly elected Councillor using the councils public website.

Councillor Richard Alderman was arrested yesterday and so far as I know has not been charged.

The County Council did not cope very well with the UKIP three a few years ago.

I am not sure how they are going to cope with this far right EDL and UKIP supporter sitting in
their chamber.

Whilst I support freedom of expression etc. I would say the newly elected councillor has crossed the line.

The leader of Rutland County Council seems to be a bit flustered. There is nothing the council can
do and the posts made after Cllr Alderman accepted office are not as bad as previous.
The conduct committee is powerless to do anything.






Updated statement from Council Leader Oliver Hemsley regarding posts on Councillor Richard Alderman's Facebook page.

Councillor Hemsley, Leader of Rutland County Council, comments:
"Like all of you, I have been truly shocked and appalled by the updates that have been posted and shared on Councillor Richard Alderman’s Facebook page.

As I have said already, Rutland County Council wholly condemns racist, sexist and threatening behaviour of any kind.

The views expressed on Cllr Alderman’s Facebook page have no place in our society and there can be absolutely no justification for this kind of conduct.

It is now abundantly clear that Cllr Alderman is unfit to hold public office and it is inconceivable that his constituents will want him to remain in place as their representative. He should therefore resign immediately.

We have referred this matter straight to the Council’s Monitoring Officer. Following a thorough investigation, it will then be dealt with by our Standards Committee.  The posts have also been referred to Leicestershire Police.

No Council can remove Members from office as they have been elected by the public through due process. However, they can be expelled on legal grounds if they are convicted of a crime and receive a prison sentence of three months or more."

Read the Council's previous statement regarding this issue.

The Council's Internal Process
Facebook posts made by Councillor Alderman have been referred to the Council’s Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer holds a statutory position to ensure the Council, its officers and its Elected Members, maintain the highest possible standards of conduct in all they do.

On receiving a complaint, the Monitoring Officer will assess it in consultation with the Council’s Independent Person (the person appointed to support the Monitoring Officer in considering complaints) to identify if there has been a potential breach of the Code of Conduct.

If it is deemed that there is a potential breach, then the matter will be referred for further investigation.

Following the outcome of any investigation, the matter will be dealt with by the Council's Standards Committee.