Racist Tory councillor who said all white men should have a black slave guilty of ‘disreputable’ conduct, says Ombudsman

Martin Shipton

The behaviour of a councillor who was recorded saying that all white men should have a black slave “could reasonably be considered as disreputable” and seriously undermine public confidence in the council he belonged to, according to the Ombudsman.

In April 2023 Nation.Cymru reported how Andrew Edwards, who at the time was a Conservative councillor in Pembrokeshire, had made the appalling comment in a 16-second clip sent to the council’s monitoring officer, Rhian Young.

Ms Young is understood to have recognised the voice on the recording as that of Mr Edwards, who was elected in the Haverfordwest Prendergast ward in 2022.

The clip, which is self-contained and without a wider context, sounds as if it may have been recorded in a car, and there is the voice of at least one young child in the background.

‘Skin colour’

The male adult voice, which several people who heard it say is undoubtedly that of Cllr 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 audio clip sent to Pembrokeshire council’s monitoring officer, Rhian Young.

A senior council source told us at the time: “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.

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

Written statement

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.”

Later Mr Edwards left the Conservative group and joined the Independents. He resigned his seat in December 2024

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.”

‘Deep fake’

In a report that was posted to the Ombudsman’s website and has been reported by BBC Wales, Mr Edwards is said to have claimed during the investigation into his conduct that he was the victim of a “deep fake”, created with malicious intent by someone using an algorithm to make it seem authentic.

But Michelle Morris, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, said: “The investigation found, on balance, that it was the former member’s voice on the voice recording”.

In her report, Ms Morris said it probably was his voice on the recording and that it had been sent as a voice note to his partner via WhatsApp.

“The content of the voice note was considered racist,” she wrote.

Mr Edwards did admit sharing information about council business alongside disrespectful comments about members of the public via WhatsApp with his partner.

He explained he was under personal pressure at the time and was “venting” to his partner.

Ms Morris found his conduct “could reasonably be considered as disreputable and was capable of seriously undermining public confidence in the council and the office of member”.

She referred the matter to the Adjudication Panel for Wales, which considers alleged breaches of local authority codes of conduct.

Referred

A spokesperson for the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said: “We don’t normally publish any information about our Code of Conduct investigations that have been referred for hearing, beyond the fact that the referral had happened. In this instance, the summary was posted too early on our website. The information about this referral is already in the public domain and is available on the website of the Adjudication Panel for Wales (https://adjudicationpanel.gov.wales/upcoming-tribunals).

“We promptly took the summary down, in line with our usual practice. We apologise for this oversight. As this is a live case and the hearing is pending, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this point.

“The determination on this case will be published by the Adjudication Panel for Wales once the case is concluded and the Ombudsman will issue a statement at that time.”