Middlesbrough: 'Not very bright' councillors cost taxpayers dear, says mayor

Mayor Andy Preston said complaints cost taxpayers thousands of pounds in council time and resources

"Self-obsessed, selfish and not very bright" councillors are costing Middlesbrough Council dear because they keep complaining about each other, the town's mayor has said.

Complaints among council members have risen to 12 this year, compared with just four in 2020 and nine in 2019.

Middlesbrough's mayor Andy Preston said probing complaints was too costly.

The council's standards committee said it needed to tackle a "low tolerance to the cut and thrust of debate".

In total, there have been 29 complaints so far this year made to the council, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

This includes the 12 from council members while the other 17 were made by council officers or the public.

Of the 29, two have been withdrawn and 16 have been resolved informally.

The council's standards committee said it needed to tackle a "low tolerance to the cut and thrust of debate"

Mr Preston, who stood as an independent, said: "There are some brilliant councillors here but there are also way too many self-obsessed, selfish and frankly not very bright people who seek to cause trouble for the good of their own self-promotion.

"Politics in Middlesbrough features a significant number of people who seek to cause trouble for others by making official complaints about them citing all sorts of false allegations - from bullying to pretty much anything they can dream up.

"Every single one of those complaints costs the tax-paying people of Middlesbrough thousands of pounds in council time and resources."

In 2020, there were 31 complaints, four from members and 27 from others - 16 of those were not progressed, 12 were rejected and two were resolved informally.

The mayor himself has not been immune to criticism from councillors.

In May, five senior councillors - including Mr Preston's deputy - resigned after complaining about "consistent poor conduct and behaviour" and called for him to quit.

In response, Mr Preston wrote on Facebook that allegations that he had spent £600,000 without official approval and appointed and paid a friend without following proper procedures were "unfounded".

'Tolerance in short supply'

Mr Preston added: "I want to see a culture change in Middlesbrough Council that will end this outrageous waste of time and money and to get all councillors focused on putting Middlesbrough first."

The standards committee report added: "We need to consider whether there is a culture that has developed within Middlesbrough to have a low tolerance to the usual cut and thrust of political debate.

"We also need to know whether some of the complaints have been of a retaliatory nature, with complaints being made from and against the same members in regards to the same issue."

Labour group council leader Matt Storey said: "Tolerance is a virtue in short supply these days in politics.

"Politics doesn't have to be poisonous or antagonistic."

The council report said that members' social media comments were responsible for a large number of the complaints, with online posts accounting for 12 grievances in 2019, 14 in 2020, and 14 in 2021 to date.