Liverpool councillor's tweet breaches bullying code - inquiry

Independent Councillor Sam Gorst was found to have broken Liverpool City Council's code of conduct

A councillor bullied the ex-partner of a council cabinet member when he described her as a "bird" on social media, an investigation has found.

Independent Councillor Sam Gorst was found to have broken Liverpool City Council's code of conduct.

His post in November 2022 asked Councillor Nick Small, "How's your bird these days?"

The complaint by Mr Small's ex-partner Michelle Langan, was investigated by the standards and ethics committee.

Mr Gorst's Independent group colleagues said the tweet should be taken in context as the councillor had been repeatedly targeted online by trolls and insulted in the run up to it being posted.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the Garston councillor was found to have breached the code of conduct and ordered to apologise following an external report and committee hearing last month.

'Harassed for months'

The investigator's report, seen by the LDRS, said the Garston councillor posted online on 30 November 2022.

The post to Mr Small singled out his then-partner Ms Langan when he asked "How's your bird these days?" and accused her of "tormenting people with mental illness".

The report, drafted by barrister Timothy Leader, said: "That comment was undoubtedly abusive and pejorative".

He said the post had "nothing to do with politics or political expression" and was "merely gratuitous abuse."

During the investigation, Ms Langan said she felt the post was "provocative, infuriating and upsetting".

Mr Leader's report said she found the language sexist and demeaning.

The barrister concluded: "I consider the tweet breached the code in that it shows a lack of respect for Ms Langan and amounted to bullying."

In response, Councillor Alan Gibbons, leader of the Liverpool Community Independents group who represented Mr Gorst rejected the bullying finding and said Mr Gorst's reaction "was an intemperate response in a Twitter argument".

He added: "You have to understand the context. He had been harassed and insulted for months by malevolent spoof social media accounts employing crude sexist and Islamophobic material prior to this argument."

Mr Gorst's Garston colleague, Councillor Lucy Williams said: "If Liverpool City Council take claims of bullying seriously I urge them to investigate the cowards behind the online account that have targeted Sam for many years."

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