The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Police escort cabinet member out of count
A senior cabinet member at Peterborough City Council was escorted away from the General Election by police last Friday morning. Cabinet member for finance Cllr David Seaton was ‘helped’ out of the East of England Arena and Events Centre as politicians and political activists came together in front of the stage to hear the result for the Peterborough constituency.
The election was won by Conservative candidate Paul Bristow ahead of Labour’s
Lisa Forbes. Cllr Seaton, a Tory member for Hampton Vale who is standing down from the council in May, declined to comment when contacted by the Peterborough Telegraph but it is understood that he said he was told by officials that he was being helped away to diffuse the situation and because of concerns for his safety. Election counts in Peterborough are well-known for being rowdy affairs with tensions often boiling over. In 2015 Conservative MP for Peterborough Stewart Jackson was loudly heckled by Labour supporters after criticising the party in his victory speech.
Cllr Seaton is chair of the council’s Constitution and Ethics Committee and regularly interacts with opposition councillors and activists during council meetings and on Facebook, where debates can get heated. Cambridgeshire police said an allegation of an assault was made during the count which it is investigating. A police spokesperson said: “There were no reported injuries following the incident and an investigation is ongoing.”