Following the tweet made by Councillor Harrington on the evening of Saturday 13 May, Warwick District Council received a significant number of tweets and emails of complaint, enquiring what the Council was going to do about the matter.

Councillor Harrington has been elected by the residents of Stoneleigh and Cubbington ward and is therefore a Councillor of Warwick District Council. Councillor Harrington is not employed by Warwick District Council. Where a complaint has been made against the actions or behaviour of a Councillor, the Council has a procedure in place to investigate the complaint and ultimately sanction him or her if the complaint is upheld. However, the Council has no power to suspend or dismiss the Councillor from his elected role.

The Council has been advised that Councillor Harrington’s tweet is under investigation by Warwickshire Police as a potential hate crime. Consequently, the Council will await the outcome of that investigation before it considers any further action.

Entirely separate to the Council’s actions, the Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Andrew Mobbs, has suspended Councillor Harrington from the Group for six months. It is also understood that the Conservative Party itself will be investigating the matter.

If you have any further comments or questions, please contact the Media Team at media@warwickdc.gov.uk