A COUNCIL chief who resigned his position this week after a Twitter spat was set to be sacked from his role anyway, documents have revealed.
In his letter of resignation to council leader Ian Hudspeth, Mr Walker said he was standing down because the council’s monitoring officer had found his conduct on Twitter ‘breached the code of conduct set by the council’.
But the council's official decision notice on his breach of the code of conduct, published the same day, had recommended he be removed from his post by his boss.
A total of 11 complaints were made against Mr Walker because of his contribution to a discussion about cycling on Twitter.
One user, called @JohnCarline3, wrote: “Cyclists constantly w**king off the dutch [sic]. F**k off over there then.”
And Mr Walker replied: “Well put in a way people would complain if I said the same.”
The councillor later deleted the tweet.
The Twitter exchange
The council's monitoring officer had recommended the council leader 'remove councillor Walker from the cabinet' as of January 1.
The officer's decision also said: "The breach was rendered particularly serious given councillor Walker’s status as cabinet member for highways; and given that councillor Walker had previously been found in breach of the code for a misuse of social media."
The councillor had once used emojis to insult a Labour rival on Twitter, leading to complaints.
In his resignation letter, Mr Walker wrote: “I have already apologised to those who were genuinely offended by the tweet. “It is regrettable that the process has taken up valuable staff time and that taxpayers’ money has been used to investigate; at times, aspects of the response have felt disproportionate."
“I have always spoken freely and engaged with councillors and members of the public on social media where many others choose not to. The freedom to exchange frank views is a core part of our democracy and should be defended. My job is to speak frankly and to do my best for the residents of Oxfordshire.”
Council leader Ian Hudspeth had defended his colleague when asked about the tweet during November’s full council meeting.
At the time, he described Mr Walker as a 'strong supporter of active travel'.
After receiving Mr Walker’s letter of resignation, Mr Hudspeth said: “It is with deep regret that I accept councillor Walker’s resignation. I thank him for the hard work he has undertaken in his cabinet post during 2020.”
Mr Walker will continue in his role as the councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell.
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