A YORK parish council chairman has resigned after fellow councillors voted to censure him.

Joe Watt says he immediately handed in his resignation as both chairman and member of Skelton Parish Council after the motion of censure was carried at a meeting last month, as it was 'the honourable thing to do.'

A City of York Council standards committee recommended in March that the parish should censure him for acting in a 'disrespectful' manner to a fellow councillor, Adrian Mansell, whom he had called a 'racist' and a 'bigot.'

Mr Watt, a former City of York Councillor, said subsequently that the motion would not happen because he would resign, but he said in April that this 'didn't go to plan' and he had been touched by the number of people who had expressed regret he might resign.

Mr Watt claimed that at last month's parish council meeting, Cllr Mansell and his wife Linda had sat at opposite sides of the room and 'hurled abuse' at him from both directions.

"It was a disgraceful performance for a parish council; probably the worst display of abuse to which I’ve ever been subjected to in public," he said.

He said the clerk had received guidance from a York council monitoring officer that he and the other 'protagonists' should declare an interest and not propose, second or vote on the censure motion.

He said he declared an interest and did not vote, but Cllr Mansell proposed the motion and his wife seconded it, and they then voted for it, which he claimed contravened the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

"My greater disappointment was that a majority of councillors – including the Deputy Chairman – voted in favour of the motion," he said, adding that one of those councillors resigned soon afterwards.

"The voting was despite my advising councillors that under the Code of Conduct principles of public life, “Leadership” states:“Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.”

A spokesperson for the parish council said: "Skelton Parish Council has followed the recommendation by the Joint Standards Panel to pass a motion of censure of Cllr Watt. After this decision, Cllr Watt handed in his resignation.

"Parish Councillors now wish to concentrate on working in the interest of the residents of Skelton village starting with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

"All Skelton residents are welcome to attend this event on Sunday 5 June 2022 from 1pm."

Informed of Mr Watt's allegations about him and his wife, Cllr Mansell said they were happy with the parish council's response, adding:"We feel we don’t need to make any further comment."