Councillor breached code of conduct when calling interim chief executive a “buffoon”
A Southampton councillor has been found in breach of the code of conduct by calling its interim chief executive a buffoon, despite arguing the term had a different meaning in 1638.
In a report to the council’s governance committee, deputy monitoring officer Sarita Riley said a complaint was received from interim chief executive Andrew Travers about Cllr Rob Harwood’s conduct at full council in September 2024 and a subsequent comment posted on LinkedIn.
The latter referred to the city’s former acting returning officer Mark Heath and went on to say: “Mark, You are the most professional RO in the Country, and much respected in national circles, and I’m deeply unhappy that you are an ex RO. The buffoon now appointed at Southampton has a history of cock ups, and resignations due to bad electoral management. It was spiffingly great working for you and with you. You are a legend. Keep contributing on the national stage. You have a wealth of experience and a lot to offer the realm of returning officers and election organisation.”
Mr Travers’ complaint about the meeting was not upheld but that about the ‘buffoon’ post was.
Ms Riley commissioned an independent investigation - at an ultimate cost of £18,964.31 - after attempts at informal resolution failed.
She noted this cost was unfunded “and will be an additional burden to be found from council reserves”.
Cllr Harwood initially said he made the ‘buffoon’ comment in a personal capacity, not as a councillor, and that he was commenting on the role of returning officer, not the chief executive.
Ms Riley’s report said: “Considerable time was spent considering whether Councillor Harwood's suggestion that the use of the term ‘buffoon’ in particular was, not considered pejorative having regard to the 1638 Oxford English dictionary definition versus more modern understanding of the word and, critically, what conclusions an ordinary member of the public would infer from the use of that term in describing the complainant.”
The investigation concluded Cllr Harwood was acting in his capacity as a councillor, and determined the word ‘buffoon’ subjected Mr Travers to ridicule “and would give a reasonable member of the public reading the comment the impression that the council was being led by someone incapable of fulfilling their duties in a competent way”.
Cllr Harwood later offered Mr Travers an apology and retraction of the post, which was accepted.
The independent investigator recommended Southampton consider adopting the Local Government Association’s Model Code to replace its current code to strengthen elements and supporting guidance.
Mark Smulian
