Cheshire East to discuss harassment and abuse of councillors

The matter was raised at yesterday’s (Thursday) meeting of the corporate policy committee and comes at a time when more elected officials nationwide are being subjected to threats of violence and abuse.

Macclesfield councillor Fiona Wilson (Lab) said there had been recent announcements by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in a bid to address the issues.

Cllr Fiona Wilson (Image: Cheshire East Council) She asked that the corporate policy committee look at the matter at a future meeting.

Council leader Nick Mannion (Lab) said: “I think that it’s well-timed and it’s very pertinent, considering some of the stories we’re reading in the local government press about incidents.”

Cllr Mannion once had dog excrement posted through his front door in a Jiffy bag addressed to him.

Cllr Nick Mannion (Image: Cheshire East Council) A recent survey by the Local Government Association revealed that 73 per cent of the 1,734 councillors from England and Wales who responded, had been subjected to abuse or intimidation in the past year.

More than a fifth had been threatened with violence – and 23 per cent of those had received death threats.

Cheshire East’s own councillors have been on the receiving end of death threats and abuse in recent years.

Two years ago, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted all 82 councillors asking if they had been abused or harassed because of their role and, if so, what form it took, whether the police had been involved, and if they had even thought of quitting because of it.

Some of those 82 councillors are no longer members of Cheshire East because they either chose not to seek re-election last year – some because of the harassment – or because they lost their seats.

Two Cheshire East councillors told the LDRS at the time they had received death threats, several had been trolled and abused online or by phone, a couple had been made to feel unsafe at home, with one installing CCTV because of it.

Two councillors also had to report hate mail and threats to the police.

Another councillor had to get police involved twice – once when she was being stalked on train journeys and another time when she received a sexually explicit phone call.

The committee agreed to discuss the problem at a future meeting of the corporate policy committee.