Ex Tory councillor who said all white men should have a black slave banned for four years

Martin Shipton

A former Welsh Tory councillor who was recorded saying that every white man should have a black slave has been banned from being a councillor for four years.

In April 2023 Nation.Cymru revealed that Andrew Edwards, who had been elected the year before as a member of Pembrokeshire County Council representing the Haverfordwest Prendergast ward, had referred himself for investigation to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW).

We had been sent a 16-second audio clip in which a man identified as Mr Edwards said: “Nothing wrong with the skin colour at all. I think all white men should have a black man as a slave or black woman as a slave, you know. There’s nothing wrong with skin colour, it’s just that they’re lower class than us white people, you know.”

The appalling clip was sent to Rhian Young, the monitoring officer at Pembrokeshire County Council.

Ms Young is understood to have recognised the voice on the recording as that of Mr Edwards. It was self-contained and without a wider context, and sounded as if it may have been recorded in a car. There was the voice of at least one young child in the background.

The matter was referred by the Ombudsman to the Adjudication Panel for Wales, which considers serious cases of alleged misconduct involving councillors on Welsh local authorities.

‘Hoax’

During the course of the investigation, Mr Edwards claimed he may have been the victim of a “deep fake” hoax, but the Adjudication Panel did not find this credible.

In January 2025 it was reported that Mr Edwards, who was suspended by the Conservative Party after the recording surfaced and continued in office as an Independent, had resigned from the county council.

In a statement issued at the time he said: “Family matters have made my position as a county councillor untenable.

“I have therefore decided to resign from the council, as I feel unable to carry out my duties to the standard I would wish at this time.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the staff and fellow councillors who have supported me during my tenure.

“I wish the very best to my successor, who I am confident will serve the community with dedication.

“This has not been an easy decision, but I believe it is in the best interests of those I represent.”

The Adjudication Panel has now published a report which states: “The PSOW made a reference to the Tribunal on 9 January 2025, with a final report of the same date. The Respondent [Mr Edwards] was informed of the referral to the Tribunal on January 28 2025. The allegations were that he had breached the authority’s Code of Conduct by firstly, recording a racist voice note that he sent to his then partner via the ‘WhatsApp’ messaging application and secondly, that he shared information relating to Council business alongside disrespectful comments about members of the public to his then partner via ‘WhatsApp’.

“He thereby demonstrated a failure to show respect to others and by so doing, brought his office and/or that of the authority, into disrepute.

“The Case Tribunal determined its adjudication by way of written representations at a meeting on June 18 2025 which was held by way of remote video-conferencing. The Case Tribunal unanimously found that the former councillor had acted in breach of the Code.

“The Case Tribunal concluded by unanimous decision that the former councillor Edwards should be disqualified from acting as a councillor for any authority for a period of four years in respect of all matters concurrently.

“The authority and its standards committee are notified accordingly. The respondent has the right to seek the leave of the High Court to appeal the above decision.”

The panel that adjudicated on Mr Edwards’ case was chaired by Judge Meleri Tudur.

It is understood that Mr Edwards opted not to appear at the hearing.

‘Racist’

At the time we published the original story, a senior council source told us: “These racist comments are absolutely outrageous and simply cannot be tolerated.

“I have heard the recording and there is no doubt that they were made by Andrew Edwards.

“He can’t even put forward the pathetic excuse that they were meant as a joke.

“This is clearly a resigning matter. He cannot come back from this.

“The Conservative Party will not want to be associated with anything of this kind and he will have to be suspended.

“If he hadn’t referred himself to the Ombudsman, I’m sure he would have been referred anyway.”

In response to our questions at the time, Cllr Edwards did not deny that the voice on the recording was his.

Instead he issued a written statement which said: “I am aware of such serious allegations being made against me.

“This is why I have self referred to the Public Services Ombudsman for an independent evaluation.

“It is now in the hands of legal experts and the Ombudsman.

“It would be unfair on the process for me to comment now.”

Magistrate

As well as being a councillor, Mr Edwards was also a magistrate and, according to his entry in Pembrokeshire County Council’s Register of Members’ Interests, a Freemason.

He works as a self-employed hairdresser for Freestyle Barbers in Haverfordwest and, again according to the council’s Register of Members’ Interests, was licensee of the Coach House pub and restaurant in Wind Street, Swansea.

He was also a governor of Prendergast Primary School in Haverfordwest.

As a councillor he was expected to abide by the Code of Conduct for members of local authorities in Wales, Clause 7 of which states: “Members must carry out their duties and responsibilities with due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of their gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion, and show respect and consideration for others.”

The maximum length of time the Adjudication Panel can decide to disqualify a councillor from holding office for is five years.