ELECTION COVERAGE
Scandal-hit Christchurch councillor Deon Swiggs has congratulated his opponent after losing his seat but vowed to continue legal action over the ‘‘flawed’’ inquiry into his alleged inappropriate behaviour.
The 33-year-old has been ousted from his central city seat, weeks after allegations that he sent ‘‘grossly inappropriate’’ messages to youngsters, which he denies.
Swiggs, who before the claims surfaced was expected to be comfortably re-elected to council, was beaten by People’s Choice/Labour candidate Jake McLellan.
Progress results show McLellan polled 1982 votes to Swiggs’ 904; with the final declaration expected next week.
Swiggs, Christchurch’s youngest councillor and a protege of Mayor Lianne Dalziel, was under
investigation over the allegations.
Swiggs said he had faced an uphill battle for re-election since the council’s code of conduct investigation was ‘‘deliberately leaked’’ to coincide with ballot papers being sent out.
It is not clear what will become of the council’s investigation into Swiggs’ alleged behaviour now that he has lost his seat, though Dalziel said she understood the code of conduct process no longer proceeds.
‘‘I don’t know, and that is now in the hands of the independent investigator and the chief executive.’’
Retired High Court judge John Matthews last week found two complaints against Swiggs were material and required a full code of conduct investigation.
Three complaints were dismissed as they related to his conduct outside his term of office. Of those three, one – which took place in 2013 when the complainant was 15 – was referred to ‘‘another agency’’, which appears to be the police.
Swiggs said: ‘‘I look forward to hearing from the council as to what this result means for the code of conduct investigation and I will continue to work with my senior legal counsel on the flawed process we have experienced to date.’’