2 Ukip County Councillors Quit The Party In Gloucestershire – Nationally at their zenith Ukip had 488 seats out of the 21,000 available, I wonder howmany are left! Considering how many MEPs Ukip has lost it is little wonder that Nigel Farage has quit particularly now that the hard work is just materialising for BreXit.
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Hi,
when you consider that of Local Authority Councillors, there were roughly 18,100 councillors in England. The latest figures show 1,264 councillors in Wales, 1,223 in Scotland and 462 in Northern Ireland.
Of that number Ukip had, at its zenith, 488 seats out of the total 21,049 available seats or one in every 43, a very small and insignificant level of representation yet even so they have lost their seats at a great rate either for natural wastage, sacking, resignation or defection – leaving them with an even less significant voice.
Here are two of the latest to quit in Gloucestershire alone:
TWO UKIP councillors have walked out of the party – with one returning to the Conservatives and the other now sitting as an Independent.
Both Alan Preest and Colin Guyton sat as UKIP councillors on Gloucestershire County Council and Forest of Dean District Council.
UKIP’s leader on the district council, Cllr Richard Leppington (Blakeney and Bream) said the party would not be affected by the defections which were made public after the recent EU referendum vote.
Cllr Preest, who represents Lydney on the county council and Lydney North on the district council, has returned to the Conservatives.
Cllr Guyton represents Drybrook at county level and Lydbrook and Ruardean on the Forest Council. His party affiliation is described as ’Independent’ on the county website and UKIP officials have confirmed he is no longer represents the party.
Cllr Preest said he could achieve more for Lydney as part of a larger group and had made his decision after speaking to many people in the town.
He said electors could pass their verdict on his decision as a county councillor at the election next year and he would prompt a by-election at district level “if there was a call for it.”
He said: “I’ve gone as far as I can with UKIP – I’ve had five good years with them but I think I’ve done as much as I can.
“My mandate is to take Lydney forward and I think I can continue to do that better as part of a group.
“A lot has been achieved and that is the mandate that has to be taken forward. What else can I do as UKIP councillor?
“I’ve not taken this decision lightly, I’ve spoken to a lot of people around the town and I’ve had favourable comments.”
Cllr Leppington said: “Ukip remains a strong voice for the people of the Forest of Dean.”
Ukip’s Forest branch chairman, Mr Alec Tritton, said the first they knew of Cllr Preest’s defection was when they were contacted by the media.
He said: “As Mr Preest has not been a member of UKIP since October 1 2015 (it was) not unexpected.
“This is despite numerous conversations by both our district council leader, Richard Leppington, and myself with Mr Preest concerning his membership.”
The Review was unable to contact Cllr Guyton.
To view the original article CLICK HERE
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Regards,
Greg_L-W.
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Wisbech Cllr. Peter Lagoda Displays Overt Racism & UKIP’s Poor Judgement and inept selection processes and incompetent leadership!!
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Hi,
yet further evidence of UKIP’s unprofessional procedures and selection process due largely to incompetent leadership and the low grade of its leadership, MEPs, NEC and staff who have been proven consistently corrupt and incompetent to perform the simplest of required political tasks – SELECTION of CANDIDATES!
Ukip Distances Itself From Councillor Peter Lagoda Over ‘Disturbing Racist Language’
Posted: 18/02/2014 11:12 GMT
Ukip has been forced to distance itself from local councillor Peter Lagoda over “disturbing” remarks he made during an impromptu visit to a fire station in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Lagoda, who was suspended by Ukip last year after being charged with benefit fraud, admitted to the Huffington Post UK that while in “private conversation” with the firefighters about his family, he described his north African sister as a “w*g” and his relatives living in Germany as “Mongols” who had children with “slanty eyes”.
“Yes, my cousin married Mongols and now all their little children are ever so cute and they have slanty eyes,” Lagoda said in a telephone interview with HuffPost UK.
Despite being forced by the local Ukip group to write a letter of apology to the firefighters after his visit last month, Lagoda insisted that the furore was “ridiculous, over-the-top” and that the letter “shouldn’t have gone out”.
The Wisbech councillor, who is still listed as representing Ukip on the council website and remains a Ukip member, defended his remarks as the correct dictionary definitions and accused the firefighters of misunderstanding him.
Cllr Peter Lagoda “They’ve taken it the wrong way and my English must be far greater than theirs because I looked in the dictionary and a person from Mongolia is called a Mongol. It’s always the British that bastardize words.”
The term “w*g”, described by most dictionaries as derogatory and offensive, usually refers to a dark-skinned or olive-skinned person from Africa and Asia, and is believed to be derived from the “golliwog” blackface minstrel doll.
Lagoda’s remarks about his “w*g” sister and “Mongol” relatives having children with “slanty eyes” have been condemned by local politicians.
Councillor Martin Curtis, Tory leader of Cambridgeshire County Council told HuffPostUK: “Of course this sort of language from county councillors horrifies me, what concerns me even more is how it fits into an increasingly disturbing picture about how poorly Wisbech is represented.
“As far as the County Council is concerned it is becoming clear that Wisbech is representational vacuum. The councillors are clearly more interested in causing controversy than they are in standing up and representing a very important market town.”
Tory Stephen Barclay, MP for North East Cambridgeshire, warned: “If racist language was used by a county councillor then it is deeply disturbing.”
A Ukip spokesperson made clear that the party takes the incident “very seriously indeed” but made clear: “Councillor Lagoda was suspended from the party before this incident occurred. He is not an acting councillor for Ukip now and he was not an acting councillor for UKIP at the time of this incident.”
Cllr Lagoda’s remarks during his visit to the fire station in January alongside current Ukip councillor Paul Clapp caused one of the firefighters to lodge an official complaint about being left feeling “uncomfortable”.
“I…should have challenged that language but thought it may be a generation thing and hopefully he wouldn’t repeat this type of language and I did not want to get into any arguments,” the firefighter wrote.
Lagoda, a former Conservative councillor, told the firefighters during his visit that he would help fight cuts aimed at the local fire station and thanked them for attending in a guard of honour for his father, who was an ex-firefighter.
3 UKIP Councillors Face Court in Rutland for Defamatory Comments!
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Councillors issued with final warning over behaviour
Rutland County Council offices in Oakham
Councillors accused of making defamatory comments about council officers have been given time to “moderate their behaviour” before they face legal action.
Rutland County Council chief executive of Helen Briggs has vowed to fight for her reputation and that of council officers following an ongoing dispute with three UKIP councillors.
The three, Richard Gale, Dave Richardson and Nick Wainwright have refused to apologise for comments made on their website, 4 Rutland, after they disbanded their Rutland Anti Corruption Group and joined UKIP.
Lawyers say council officers have a strong case for legal action because the comments suggested they were involved in fraud and corruption, suspect planning approvals, the misuse of public money and squandering millions of pounds of grant funding.
The UKIP members were given the opportunity to apologise or produce evidence to support their claims but the council says they have not done so. wCouncil members have agreed to foot the bill if Mrs Briggs or any council officers seek legal action.
In a statement to the council Mrs Briggs said: “You have given me a clear mandate to bring proceedings for defamation in my own name.
“Before doing so I intend to allow these three councillors a short period of time to show whether they can moderate their recent behaviour, and operate as councillors would be expected to, but I shall not hesitate in commencing proceedings unless there is a marked improvement in their behaviour.
“I will continue to deal firmly but fairly with these councillors, as I would with any other, and I hope that I can rely on your support to allow me to concentrate my efforts on pursuing the best interests of this council and the residents of Rutland.”
Residents have been assured that the legal dispute will not impact on the services they receive.
Mrs Briggs said: “The council has clear priorities and a challenging agenda to deliver.
“Significant work has taken place on key projects despite this distraction and I am committed to ensuring that the staff team are working hard to build on this work.
“I will not allow these three councillors, or anyone else for that matter, to continue to disrupt the effective operation of this council and me as its chief executive.”
The UKIP councillors are in talks with solicitors over building a case against the council for harassment. They say their comments were not defamatory.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
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Posted: 18/02/2014 11:12 GMT