Ombudsman suggests councillor who said all Tories should be shot broke code of conduct

Martin Shipton

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has decided that the evidence against a former council leader who said all Tories should be shot was “suggestive” of a breach of the local government code of conduct.

Isle of Anglesey Independent councillor Ieuan Ieuan Williams made the comment during a council meeting in June 2023.

The then local Tory MP Virginia Crosbie said at the time she was disgusted by the comment.

“This is not the rough and tumble of political life, this is out and out hate,” the MP said.

Stab vest

“Cllr Williams knows I wear a stab vest at surgeries but still he casually remarks that I and others who are Conservative should be shot.

“Two MPs have lost their lives in the last seven years and still he thinks saying such things is OK.”

Mr Williams was the authority’s deputy leader when he made the comment, having been leader between 2013 and 2017.

In a statement at the time he said: “I apologise profusely for any offence caused by my inappropriate comment.

“The remark was made at the end of an emotionally charged statement, following a presentation on poverty on Anglesey.

“I am obviously not advocating shooting anyone and have apologised to all members present at the meeting.

“I have also referred myself to the standards committee and have stood down as deputy leader and member of the executive whilst any potential investigation takes place.

“This is not about any one individual. The real issue at hand here is what made me so angry and emotional in the first instance. We have a 99% increase in food bank usage on Anglesey in the three months since November 2022.”

Inappropriate

Anglesey council chief executive Dylan Williams said at the time: “The comment made was inappropriate and unacceptable.

“Following dialogue with councillor Williams earlier today, he has referred himself to the chair of the standards committee.

“In the meantime, he has also stood down as deputy leader and education and Welsh language portfolio holder.”

“Cllr Williams has accepted that his remarks were unacceptable and has apologised.”

Cllr Williams’ comment came almost seven years after the Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered by a white supremacist in a terrorist attack. David Amess, a Conservative MP, was killed in October 2021 by an Islamist extremist.

The Welsh Conservative shadow minister for local government, Sam Rowlands, called the comment “dreadful and completely inexcusable”.

“The left often like to virtue signal about a kinder, gentler politics but then come out with comments like this,” he said.

Nation.Cymru has established that the Public Sector Ombudsman for Wales has completed an investigation and sent the matter for determination by the Isle of Anglesey’s standards committee.

We have been told that the Ombudsman found that the evidence is suggestive of a breach of the code of conduct. The Ombudsman’s report was referred to the council’s monitoring officer in December 2024 for consideration by its standards committee. It will now be for the standards committee to decide whether to hold a hearing.

If a hearing takes place, Cllr Williams could face suspension for a specified period, during which time he could not participate in council meetings and would not receive his salary.