The leader of Preston City Council refused to be drawn on whether he condemned comments by his deputy leader which were described as ‘inappropriate and offensive’.
Neil Darby, the Liberal Democrat councillor representing Ingol and Cottam and also chair of the Lancashire LGBT charity, asked the question of Cllr Matthew Brown regarding Cllr Martyn Rawlinson at Thursday’s full meeting of Preston City Council.
He said: “Would you condemn the transphobic comments made by your own deputy leader because it really does undermine the message you and the authority are putting out?”
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Cllr Brown said: “I’ve always stated that we should have a debate based around respect, people have strong views one way or another.
“If there are any issues in terms of how people are behaving then we have standards process and there are complaints to political parties as well.
“We need to have this debate in terms of tolerance, respect and understanding.”
Cllr Darby asked a supplementary question: “Some of what has been said online in the past I would consider to be inappropriate and offensive. I know that different people take different views on it. So I will ask you the same question again, do you condemn those comments?”
Cllr Brown said: “I can’t really add any more. I have said I believe that members should deal with these issues and other issues with understanding, tolerance and respect and try not to hurt other communities. And if there are issues with what people say and do, then there’s a process to follow.”
The question from Cllr Darby followed a question from Avery Greatorex, a transwoman and the chair of Pride in Labour, who has previously criticised Cllr Rawlinson’s comments regarding transpeople.
She asked: “I’m raising this question during Pride Month in light of increasing hostility towards transpeople, including online, in politics and in local communities.
“While I recognise that the Equalities Act 2010 protects transpeople in law, and given the council’s equalities duties, what proactive steps are Preston City Council taking to safeguard transpeople from discrimination?”
Cllr Brown responded: “As an authority, we understand there are strong individual views on all side of this debate, but the council is committed to supporting and protecting all individuals with protected characteristics while allowing freedom of expression.
“We, alongside every local authority, are awaiting updated guidance from the EHRC on the impact of the Supreme Court decision and we are assured it will be available in due course.”
Greatorex’s questions come after she criticised Cllr Rawlinson’s conduct when speaking to Blog Preston in May, believing comments accusing the transgender community of being fetishists, fabricated and lacking in sanity were not acceptable.
In response, Cllr Rawlinson said on X that it was an attempt to smear him by an ‘extremist trans rights misogynist’. He denies being transphobic and said he is stating facts.
Preston Labour maintains that it has delivered a strong equality agenda, including supporting Preston Pride, Show Racism the Red Card and submitting a council motion supporting trans rights in 2020. In June, the Preston Market canopy was lit to mark Pride Month.
Social media conduct
Cllr Mark Bell, for Preston Rural East, would later ask a question at full council.
Cllr Bell asked: “I did some late night reading the other day looking at the standards reports from the last four years. We’re getting quite a lot of complaints from members of the public on our conduct and that seems to have gone up over the last couple of years.
“It is dominated by complaints about social media. So it’s quite clear the public is frustrated with this.
“Standards committee often takes no action, so I’m not sure if the standards committee is weak or the policy is not fit for purpose. Other councils across the country talk about blurred identities, where it’s not clear if you’re speaking on behalf of the party, or you as a private citizen or as a councillor.
“So I would like to ask the leader if you think we need to do better as a group and if you will commit to a revised social media policy?”
Cllr Rawlinson, absent for the questions from Greatorex and Cllr Darby, answered the question: “Everyone will have their own opinion about how effective the code of conduct is. If it’s not effective, there are dozens if not hundreds of councils using very similar models.
“I’ve had a meeting with an [council] officer about the code of conduct about some changes because I feel it doesn’t work for the complainants – where people are complaining and it’s being thrown out. They don’t understand the code and what breaks the code – maybe the members don’t either.
“I’ve suggested a few changes and I’m not going to go into detail now – they’re being checked for whether they can be included.
“I think it would clear some things up a bit on whether councillors can defend themselves publicly against false statements and misleading statements about them.
“There does need to be something happening on it, I agree, it’s just not top of my agenda. There’s so much going on here. We’re trying to do a lot before this council, possibly, disappears.”
Information previously obtained by Blog Preston under the Freedom of Information Act shows that 55 complaints have been made against city councillors since 2018, the majority of which have been by members of the public.
Of all of those complaints, just five were upheld by the Preston City Council Standards Committee and they were all between 2018-2020. Since then, no action has been taken against any behaviour by Preston City Council.
In 2017, following a standards committee meeting on 26 June, councillors were told they should use social media as if they were speaking to members of the public directly and in person, treat others with respect and think before publishing comments.
A standards committee meeting on September 23, 2019 heard that a complaint against a city councillor regarding posting on social media had been upheld and that the code of conduct had been breached. The councillor was asked to apologise and remove the post but refused and the committee took no further action due to ‘resource constraints’.
A meeting on 27 June, 2022 heard about a complaint against a former city councillor who had allegedly verbally abused a woman who was parked in her vehicle. The committee determined that the councillor was acting in a private capacity.
The lack of sanctions available to the standards committee has been noted on a number of occasions. It was noted in 2024 that social media posts were the root of the majority of complaints. A meeting on 25 November 2024 agreed that party leaders should take greater responsibility for the behaviour of their members.
In the same meeting, plans for Preston to enter into a friendship agreement with the Palestinian city of Hebron were agreed.
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