Councillor suspended for ‘let me look at you’

A Conservative councillor has been suspended after he asked all the women to stand up at an awards ceremony so he could look at them.

Leigh Higgins, deputy leader of Melton council in Leicestershire, was accused on Facebook of making “chauvinistic” remarks while presenting the Best of Melton Awards.

Mr Higgins had made a speech about the pandemic and how he missed such events when he asked all female audience members to stand up .

He then allegedly said: “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a sight like that,” prompting a backlash. He has been suspended by the Tory group for 21 days pending an internal investigation.