Maldon District Council: Leader resigns after police called to meeting

The leader of a council which had police called to one of its meetings has resigned.

Councillor Wendy Stamp has stepped down as the leader of Maldon District Council, and the authority's deputy leader also resigned "in support".

Mrs Stamp's husband apparently had an altercation with council member Chrisy Morris after he repeatedly interjected a meeting on 5 November.

Mrs Stamp said she stepped down to stop the abuse staff had been subjected to.

"I have and will always put the work of the council, democratic process and staff safety first," she said.

"By stepping down, I am taking the right steps to ensure what this council and its staff have been subjected to in recent weeks stops."

Richard Holmes, head of paid service at the council, said staff had been "receiving daily episodes of abuse and threats of violence".

Maldon District Council's meeting last Thursday was discussing sanctions against independent member Mr Morris, who denies disclosing confidential information.

The council's joint standards committee found he had brought the authority into disrepute, following two independent investigations.

The minutes said he disclosed confidential information and on several occasions his "conduct met the definition of bullying".

Mr Morris disputed these findings during the meeting.

After Mr Morris repeatedly called for a "point of order", police were called.

The meeting was abandoned and police officers said he was "breaching the peace", but no arrests were made.

A video was later published on social media in which Mr Stamp appeared to confront Mr Morris.

The pair then seemingly get into a physical altercation and Mr Stamp later appears to have a black eye.

Councillor Stephen Nunn said it was "with sadness" that he was resigning from his role as deputy leader.

"I'm doing this in support of councillor Wendy Stamp's decision to resign," he said.

"But also, I feel this is the right thing to do to enable the council to move forward in a positive way and to ensure democratic business can be heard and carried out without further disruption or delay."

Both Mrs Stamp and Mr Nunn will continue to represent their wards and the district as elected members of the council.

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