Corby councillor storms out of chamber and brands chair a ‘bigot’ as pride row councillor King Lawal is handed key £13k committee role

A North Northants Councillor walked out of a meeting after a member who said ‘being gay is a sin’ was handed back a key chair’s role.

At last night’s (Tuesday, January 9) Health Scrutiny Committee meeting Councillor King Lawal (Con, Queensway) was reappointed as chair of the panel – a role he lost after his controversial tweets earlier this summer.

But Councillor Zoe McGhee (Lab, Kingswood) said she ‘refused to sit on a panel chaired by a bigot’, walked out of the meeting and resigned her membership

The Health Scrutiny chair role attracts £13,230 on top of the £14,000 basic councillor’s allowance.

In June, during Pride month, Cllr Lawal (Con, Queensway) tweeted that pride was ‘a sin’. He then followed up by telling this newspaper that he believed being gay was a sin, in line with his religious beliefs.

An outcry saw Cllr Lawal lose the Tory whip and the chairmanship of Health Scrutiny board as well as a number of community positions including a school governorship. He was also forced to stand down as a director of his own business in order to keep hold of a key council contract.

Thirteen complaints were made to the council, and standards officers recommended that Cllr Lawal remove the tweets, undergo training and apologise in a public forum of his choice.

He was given back the Tory whip in October after he told the full council his tweet was ‘an expression of my Christian faith’ and ‘an exercise in free speech.

He used wording in line with criminal public order offences, staying: “My intention in posting the tweet was not to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person or persons.”

Cllr Lawal stopped short of saying he was sorry.

Cllr Graham Lawman had stood in as Health Scrutiny chair during Cllr Lawal’s absence but he recently stood aside for his Tory colleague.

And last night, as Cllr Lawal was nominated for the post by his friend Cllr Scott Brown (Con, Earls Barton), Cllr McGhee walked out of the meeting. She had nominated Cllr Anne Lee (Lab, Windmill) for the role but was voted down.

When Cllr Lawal was nominated Cllr McGhee asked how ‘someone who has been so brazen with their views thinks they can chair a health committee’ adding: “If this goes through, consider that my resignation. I refuse to sit on a panel chaired by a bigot.” Her microphone was cut off as she said the word ‘bigot’.

Cllr Lawal did not respond to Cllr McGhee’s comments, saying: “It’s a privilege to be voted in as chair of this most esteemed committee.”

After she left the meeting, she said: “I have full understanding that the health committee is in fact the most important agenda in our time.

"However my heart was pained to hear that the chair, who should oversee the health agenda with inclusivity, positivity and empathy, is someone who has previously said that members of the LGBTQIA+ community should repent for their sins.

"He has since offered nothing but a lacklustre apology.

“The LGBTQIA+ community has given me friendship, inspiration, empowerment and wonderful memories I will treasure forever.

"My decision to resign from the committee came from the heart and I do so in solidarity with a community that truly means the world to me.”

This afternoon (Wednesday, January 10) the North Northants Council Labour group released a statement saying they were ‘concerned’ at Cllr Lawal’s appointment,

Leader of the Labour Group Cllr Matt Keane (Lab, Corby West) said: “This was a decision that was made by Conservative councillors who have either failed to understand or deliberately ignored the hurt that Cllr Lawal has caused to many residents of North Northamptonshire.

"They have rewarded him by electing him to this very important role. I don’t understand why they have had to change the committee chair in the middle of the municipal year unless it’s to reward Cllr Lawal who couldn’t even say he was sorry in an apology.”