A former Moray councillor says she is “relieved” after being cleared of misconduct over a series of tweets by the standards watchdog.
Paula Coy, who represented Elgin City North at Moray Council for four and a half years, was reported to the Standards Commission over “disrespectful” Twitter posts she made in March 2021 about another politician.
Since then she has resigned as a councillor for “personal reasons” and at the beginning of 2022 left the SNP, saying she disagrees with the views of MP Joanna Cherry.
The Standards Commission has now cleared Ms Coy of any wrongdoing, despite also concluding her comments on Twitter were “wholly unacceptable”.
Tweets could erode public trust
Paul Walker, convener of the Standards Commission and chair of the hearing panel, said some of her comments “met the threshold for a breach of respect” and potentially eroded public confidence in councillors.
He said: “The panel found that former councillor Coy had made personal comments about another politician and his wife (the complainer) in publicly available tweets.
“The panel noted that this included making a comparison between the complainer and an activist suspended by another political party for mocking, on Twitter, the first minister’s experience of suffering a miscarriage.
“The panel considered that making a comparison between the complainer and someone who had supported such an offensive view was a wholly inappropriate and discourteous personal comment.
“The panel was of the view that former councillor Coy’s conduct in doing so was unacceptable because it lowered the standard of public debate and, further, had the potential to erode public confidence in the role of an elected member.”
No further action to be taken
However Mr Walker adds that the panel was satisfied her comments were made in a political context and were therefore of public interest.
He also says her comments were “not sufficiently offensive and gratuitous” enough to warrant further action.
The panel says it is satisfied Ms Coy was “attempting to draw an analogy” between her opinion on the extremity of the complainer’s views.
Mr Walker added: “The panel would wish to emphasise that the requirement for councillors to behave in a respectful and courteous manner towards members of the public is a fundamental requirement of the code, as it protects the public and also ensures public confidence in the role of an elected member and the council itself is not undermined.”
Relief over watchdog verdict
Ms Coy says she is “relieved” the case has been thrown out and she is now looking forward to putting the incident behind her.
She said: “I am relieved the Standards Commission came to the same conclusion as the Ethical Standards Commission. It has been hanging over me for months.
1/ So, the hearing by the Standards Commission into my conduct was held this morning. There’s been a fair bit of hyperbole around the 4 tweets under investigation. No breach of councillors code of conduct was found. Joanna Cherry will be delighted that my right to expression…. pic.twitter.com/TyqpnnuYG0
— Paula Coy (@PaulaCoyscot) February 16, 2022
“My reasons for resigning as a councillor and then from the SNP are both completely unrelated to this but publicly were linked to the complaint, which has been really difficult.
“I have been trying to honour the Standards Commission’s request for confidentiality while the complainer has been slating me all over the place.
“But I didn’t breach the code of conduct, which is the most important thing.
“I believe the complaint itself was politically-motivated.
“It has been appalling and I want to put it all behind me.
“I would hope for some apologies – that would be nice – but I will not hold my breath.”