The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Member (“the Member”) of Carmarthenshire Council (“the Council”) had breached the Code of Conduct (“the Code”) during a public election event when he made what was reported as a fascist salute directed toward one of the candidates. The matter was reported in the media and in online articles in the days that followed.
An investigation considered whether the Member’s conduct was capable of bringing the Council or the role of member into disrepute to be suggestive of a breach of the Code.
Evidence was obtained from the Council, witnesses at the event, the Member and the publicly available media articles.
Having considered the evidence gathered and explanations provided by the Member for his actions, the Ombudsman determined, on balance, that the Member’s actions were serious in nature and had the ability to negatively impact the reputation of the Council and the role of member and were likely to have brought both his office and his authority into disrepute.
However, taking into account the Member’s actions immediately after the event and wider circumstances including the public interest, the Ombudsman determined that no further action was necessary.
Under Section 69(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 2000, the Ombudsman determined that no action needs to be taken in respect of the matters investigated.