Controversial councillor Richard Broughan has been kicked out of his political group after being cautioned by police for an assault outside a chip shop.
The Abbey Hulton and Townsend councillor is currently subject to three investigations at Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
They relate to the assault in Milton in January, messages posted on Facebook, and his reported involvement with a group called the Knights Templar.
Now council and City Independents leader Dave Conway has expelled Mr Broughan from the group, saying he was bringing the authority and his colleagues ‘into disrepute’. He will now sit as a non-aligned councillor once again.
Mr Conway said: “I told him that he’d been a disappointment, and we couldn’t accept anything that brought the council or the group into disrepute.
“I don’t regret giving him a chance in the City Independents. I thought we could help him. I even gave him a mentor on the council who could give him advice. This is the culmination of several things, and he has been given multiple chances. But he’s got to accept that he has a problem.”
Earlier this month former local Labour Party official Tony Walley posted about the Milton incident on his Facebook page and called for the councillor to leave the City Independents. Mr Broughan, of Abbey Hulton, responded to this post with a series of messages.
In one message, he said: “Tony, stop being a d*** and get used to the fact that I’m not going anywhere. When I get re-elected next year you’ll be eating out of my hand because I’m going to teach you a lesson. That lesson is that when intellectuals like myself get involved in politics we tend to shake things up.”
Mr Walley subsequently lodged a formal complaint with the council about Mr Broughan.
Mr Walley, from Meir Hay, said: “I really don’t think he is fit to serve as a city councillor. But I hope he gets the help he needs.”
Mr Broughan has been involved in a series of controversies since first being elected as a councillor in May 2015. They have seen him:
- Suspended by Ukip after posting a ‘joke’ about the deaths of migrants in a refrigerated lorry on Twitter. He resigned from the party;
- Suspended from the City Independents group for 12 months after making ‘sexual remarks’ about two females - one of them dressed as an elf - at an Abbey Hulton Christmas event. He was also caught drinking brandy in an alcohol exclusion zone;
- Apologise to a member of the public after branding him ‘intellectually challenged’ on social media;
- Accept a conditional police caution after assaulting a man in Milton;
- Post messages on Facebook which have triggered another complaint to the city council.
Mr Broughan says his expulsion from the group will not affect his duties as a councillor.
He said: “Being forced to leave the City Independents group has no effect on my current day-to-day duties to my residents.
“It’s a shame that politicians are expected to be inhuman entities without flaws or emotions to the eyes of some, but I believe the vast majority of people find it refreshing to have someone not sitting in an ivory tower. I’m not suggesting that every politician does this but there is a perception that this is the case.
“I started with the intention to simply be a normal person acting as a conduit for my electors and that’s what I intend to continue doing.
“I believe this decision reflects strongly on the integrity of the leader of the council and the City Independents group at large to stand by accepted values of behaviour which evidently do not match my own. Asking a cheetah to change its spots is the closest analogy I can think of because I’ve only ever been open about being a normal person with a desire to help others while having the vulnerability of having a tendency to react to situations like a normal person.
“I’m no Boris Johnson or Donald Trump but I think I’m allowed to react just like any other real person would.”
Asked about the Milton assault, Fiona Ledden, assistant director for governance at the city council, said: “Stoke-on-Trent City Council takes very seriously the conduct of councillors and officers.
“The incident being referred to is currently being investigated through our standards process and committee which will decide on any next steps. It is not appropriate to comment while this is being investigated as part of the council procedure. We regularly work with councillors to advise them of the high standards and behaviours expected in public office.”
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “A 35-year-old Stoke-on-Trent man has been given a conditional caution following an assault outside Milton Fryer chip shop, on Leek Road, on the evening of January 24.”
