Mayor accused of ‘gerrymandering’ in Twitter storm
Call for probe as councillor admits replying to consultation under three different names
WEST Midlands Mayor Andy Street has been accused of trying to influence a policing public consultation, with one rival accusing him of a “pathetic attempt at gerrymandering”.
The mayor admitted a member of his team, acting with his authority, had posted a controversial message on social media urging supporters to back his bid to take over the leadership of West Midlands Police.
The consultation considers the merging of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s position with the mayoralty.
Mr Street was adamant the message was not written or sent ‘by my hand’ but was done by an authorised member of his team without his knowledge.
Senior Solihull Tory councillor, Bob Grinsell, in response to the message, told the mayor he had responded to the consultation not once, but three times using different names and email addresses.
Mr Street has now confirmed he had referred the exchange to the Conservative Party, West Midlands Combined Authority’s monitoring officer, and Solihull Council.
But questions are now being asked about his judgment amid concerns at the councillor’s response. The exchange, shared on Twitter, was variously condemned as ‘pathetic’, ‘highly dubious’ and ‘potentially fraudulent’ by political opponents.
Labour MP Steve McCabe (Birmingham Selly Oak) said he had already voiced concerns about the consultation process over policing – and the revelations called into question the validity of the whole exercise.
“I would question whether this consultation should proceed,” he said.
Labour councillor Ed Ruane (Henley ward, Coventry City Council) described the exchange as a “pathetic attempt at gerrymandering” to influence the outcome of the consultation – and suggested the mayor was spending too much time focused on spin and not enough on the fate of young men dying in the streets of the West Midlands from violence.
“This was a clear attempt to influence the consultation. It’s all pretty pathetic,” he said.
He also said the consultation’s validity was now questionable, particularly if any other supporters had similarly made multiple responses.
The original messages were sent in Mr Street’s name from an account headlined ‘Andy’s Street Patrol’ and later shared on Twitter. It read: “All. This is really, really important. Mission critical in fact. We need to demonstrate that the roles of Mayor and PCC should be combined.
“Labour are as you would expect making a good fist of harvesting votes. We really need each of you to AT LEAST fill in the consultation – ideally anything you can do to get us three, four, five or more responses will be huge.
“Every single one counts and we really need you to come through for us. Hugely appreciated.”
Councillor Grinsell’s response was: “Already done 3 times, under 3 different names and email addresses. Oh, and shared.”
The mayor said he had not personally typed or sent out the message but confirmed it was done from his account and by someone he had authorised to issue messages on his behalf.
He did not say how many of his previous social media posts were self penned, but said he ‘stood by’ every other message on his social media accounts.
“It was sent out from my account in my name but not by me,” Mr
Street said.
He did not say who had sent the message in his name but confirmed the number of people with access to his accounts and authorised to send messages was
‘very limited’.
In a statement to the West
M id lands
Combined
Authority
Board, Mr
Street said: “I have seen messages on social med ia
Prelating to the consultation on the transfer of powers and responsibilities of the Police and Crime Commissioner to the mayor of the West Midlands, including messages in my name.
“I saw these messages for the first time last night [Friday], and I had no previous knowledge of the messages sent in my name.
“The matter has been referred first thing this morning to the WMCA monitoring officer, the leader of Solihull Borough Council, and the Conservative Party for appropriate actions.
“The board will be kept informed of progress, but it would be inappropriate to comment further on these processes as they are now underway.”
However no investigation has yet been launched by Solihull Council into Cllr Grinsell’s comments, with the authority stating that “this is a matter for Cllr Bob Grinsell to comment on”.
The chair of Solihull and Meriden Labour Party, Nick Stephens, urged the council to reconsider its position.
“It seems that someone in the mayor’s team sent out a message to try and encourage people to support this plan, which is a power grab by the mayor,” he said.
“But Solihull Tory Councillor Robert Grinsell (Olton) seems to have boasted on Twitter that he took part in the consultation using three different names and three different email addresses.
“If this is true it is a disgraceful situation and as chair of Solihull Labour Party I am hoping this matter will be fully investigated by Solihull Council.
“It would appear that the councillor has breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct which sets out how councillors should act with integrity and honesty and he should seriously consider his position as an elected representative.”
Cllr Grinsell was contacted for comment but had not done so as the o s t went to print.
This was a clear attempt to influence the consultation. It’s all pretty pathetic Coventry councillor Ed Ruane
(Labour)