Welsh Labour’s general secretary called Nick Clegg a “f****** c***”

Martin Shipton

Welsh Labour’s general secretary Joe Lock has been branded a total hypocrite after barring a would-be Senedd candidate for inoffensive tweets when he himself had written a string of grossly offensive Facebook posts including calling former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg a “fxxxxxx cxxx”.

Cllr Jamie Pritchard, the deputy leader of Caerphilly council, was recently told by Mr Lock that he could not be included on a shortlist of candidates for the pending Caerphilly by-election because of historic tweets that were supportive of Jeremy Corbyn during the period when he was leader of the Labour Party.

In 2011 Mr Lock was Labour’s candidate in that year’s National Assembly election in Ynys Môn, hoping to unseat Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones He was issued with a formal reprimand by Labour after the posts came to light.

Mature student

At the time a 25 year-old mature student at Bangor University, he had described Mr Clegg as a “f****** ****” in the wake of the deal his party had made to form a coalition with the Conservatives in 2010.

In another post he created a link to a website called “Is Thatcher dead yet?”, adding the comment: “Can’t be long, fingers crossed.”

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher eventually died in April 2013 at the age of 87.

Responding to a post from a friend who stated, “Take it you don’t like the Tories then”, he wrote: “I love em as long as they impaled [sic] on a large spike.”

Another post from Mr Lock said: “Joe likes throwing eggs at David Cameron, brick-shaped eggs – made from brick.”

Other posts were homophobic.

The comments were spotted by a Welsh Conservative activist.

‘Grossly inappropriate’

A Tory spokesperson said at the time: “These comments are grossly inappropriate for an Assembly candidate. They are offensive, abusive and completely unacceptable for anyone seeking public office.

“There is no place in politics for extreme remarks that appear to incite violent behaviour. The Welsh electorate will expect [then Welsh Labour leader and First Minister] Carwyn Jones to distance himself from these comments as soon as possible and take all appropriate action.”

A spokesperson for Plaid Cymru said at the time: “Carwyn Jones needs to immediately distance himself from the offensive comments made by his Labour candidate in Ynys Môn.

“Having been actively campaigning with Joe Lock in recent months, it should be a matter of considerable concern and embarrassment for the Labour leader.

“Using this type of language is certainly not appropriate behaviour for a candidate seeking elected office and we know that people in Ynys Môn will find these comments by the Labour candidate extremely offensive.

“The Labour leader needs to investigate this matter immediately and ensure that the party apologises to the people of Anglesey for their candidate’s behaviour.”

‘Unacceptable’

A spokesperson for Welsh Labour said at the time: “We have noted these comments from Joe Lock, which were made before he was a Labour candidate in this election. These comments are totally unacceptable and we have issued Mr Lock with a formal reprimand and a warning about his future conduct which he has accepted.

“These comments may have been made in jest when Mr Lock was a student, but youth and naivety are no defence for what are clearly inappropriate remarks.”

Mr Lock said: “I accept completely that I should not have made these comments and I apologise unreservedly to anyone I may have offended.

“I have offered a personal apology to Welsh Labour, the local party and to Carwyn Jones for any embarrassment I may have caused. These were stupid comments and intended for friends, but that is absolutely no excuse.”

Welsh Labour’s website stated at the time: “Joe lives in Holyhead … He grew up in Manchester where he worked for Co-operatives UK before moving to Holyhead. He is a mature student at Bangor University.”

At the 2011 Senedd election in Ynys Môn, Mr Lock came third behind the then Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones and the second-placed Conservative candidate.

‘Disgrace’

Cllr Sean Morgan, who resigned last week as the leader of Caerphilly council and from the Labour Party following the exclusion of Cllr Pritchard from the Caerphilly by-election shortlist, said: “These offensive comments show that Joe Lock is not a fit and proper person to be the general secretary of Welsh Labour.

“He barred Jamie Pritchard from putting his name forward on entirely false grounds because he had written tweets that were supportive of Jeremy Corbyn when he was the leader of the party. Yet Mr Lock wrote these grossly offensive posts on Facebook. The man is a total hypocrite and a disgrace.”

Mr Lock was appointed general secretary of Welsh Labour in October 2024, having undertaken the role on an acting basis since May 2024. He has worked for Welsh Labour in various capacities since 2015.

We invited Welsh Labour to respond to Cllr Morgan’s comments, but the party chose not to do so.