‘Disgraced’ council leader hopes to become a Reform Senedd Member

Martin Shipton

A former council leader who lost his position when he was suspended from the authority for seven months after being found to have committed multiple breaches of the councillors’ code of conduct is trying to get selected as a Reform UK candidate for the Senedd.

Kevin O’Neill went into local politics after retiring as a chief superintendent with South Wales Police.

He was elected to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council as an Independent in 2017 in an election that saw Labour lose control of the authority. Mr O’Neill was immediately elected as leader of the council.

By 2019 the authority was in crisis and Mr O’Neill wrote to the then Local Government Minister Julie James, asking her to intervene.

She sent in former Swindon council chief executive John Gilbert to advise the authority. A review undertaken by Mr Gilbert found that Mr O’Neill’s own manifesto was not costed or well understood by officers.

Ms James announced a package of support, including an improvement board chaired by ex-Welsh Local Government Association chief executive Steve Thomas.

At the same time the Wales Audit Office warned the authority not to keep raiding its reserves.

Suspended

Months later the Adjudication Panel for Wales ruled that Mr O’Neill had broken the code of conduct six times and ordered him to be suspended for seven months.

He had to stand down as council leader and lost his seat at the subsequent election in 2022.

A report released by the panel strongly criticised Mr O’Neill for his “hectoring, inappropriate behaviour” and his improper interventions over plans for a building next to his home.

The property was purchased by a private organisation called Inspire and Support with the intention of housing children from troubled backgrounds in a community setting. Mr O’Neill had opposed the application and continued to speak at meetings about it without declaring an interest – a clear breach of the code.

Another breach related to his conduct towards the former chief executive Gareth Chapman.

The panel established as an “undisputed fact” that the relationship between Mr O’Neill and Mr Chapman was “strained and poor.” Another “undisputed fact” was that Mr O’Neill did not give the former chief executive, the former deputy chief executive or the monitoring officer, any indication that he intended to raise the former chief executive’s performance at a meeting, and that when concerned about the performance of Mr Chapman, he did not follow the code of conduct protocol in the manner in which he raised his concerns.

‘Respect’

The panel found that Mr O’Neill’s conduct towards Mr Chapman “clearly failed to show respect and consideration to him”, and that the way he was spoken to was “inappropriate, hectoring and uninterruptible, and went beyond assertiveness.”

The panel also found that Mr O’Neill had failed persistently to declare the existence and nature of a personal and prejudicial interest in the business of the authority relating to a property at Luther Lane, Merthyr. As he lived next door, he should not have fronted or been involved in any type of focus or lobbying group in relation to the plans for the building.

He had failed to heed the advice of the council’s monitoring officer not to attend a meeting about the plans and make prejudicial comments at it, and on another occasion he wrote inappropriately to the director of social services trying to influence a decision about the matter.

When he responded to the allegations, Mr O’Neill accepted that he had a personal interest in the property in Luther Lane but denied that he had a prejudicial interest.

In relation to the meeting with the former chief executive and his conduct and behaviour towards him, he considered that he had not breached the code.

We were contacted by a Labour source, who told us Mr O’Neill had been telling people he hoped to be selected as a Reform UK candidate in next year’s Senedd election for the “super constituency” of Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr.

‘Unfit’

The source said: “Kevin O’Neill proved when he was a councillor that he was unfit to hold public office. He disgraced himself in breaching the code of conduct multiple times by abusing his position and behaving in a bullying manner.

“He remains unrepentant and now has the cheek to put himself forward as a candidate for the Senedd. If Reform select him despite his appalling record as a councillor, it will show how flawed their vetting process is and that any chancer can become one of their candidates.”

We contacted Mr O’Neill, who confirmed his ambition to become a Reform candidate at next year’s Senedd election. He was invited to provide us with a statement, but did not do so.