He resigned and apologised and is now set to face voters later than planned.
Dennis Jones was leader of Peterborough City Council (Image: LDRS)
A councillor who referred to rape gang victims as “white trash” is set to keep his seat after councillors agreed to delay the next vote. Dennis Jones, the then-leader of Peterborough City Council, said in late-night exchanges with a younger councillor, Daisy Blakemore Creedon, after she raised concerns about immigration and women’s safety: “Oh so white British cops f*****g poor white trash in Rotherham is OK, is it? Get a f*****g grip, Daisy.”
He then accused her of chasing “populist votes and attention”, adding: “I wish you no luck at all.” In a separate exchange not long afterwards, Cllr Jones seemed to mock Cllr Blakemore Creedon, writing: “Give them your sweetest pout. And see above for likely outcome lol.”
Cllr Jones later “apologised wholeheartedly for the language” and resigned after being administratively suspended by Labour. Now it has emerged that the independent councillor for the Dogsthorpe Ward looks to be keeping his seat after the city council voted to postpone its upcoming elections.
Peterborough City Council has voted to postpone its next election (Image: -)
His seat was due for re-election in May, but it could be another year before Cllr Jones faces voters as councillors agreed that the ballot should be pushed back until 2027.
It was revealed earlier this month that at least 18 local authorities have asked to delay elections due this year amid a Government reorganisation drive, according to administrators.
District and county council ballots across England scheduled for May are set to be pushed back as officials seek to deliver structural changes as part of a shake-up to local government.
Opposition critics have said Labour is “running scared” of voters after ministers said they would authorise delays if councils had concerns about their capacity to introduce reforms in time.
But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the Government’s plans and said the prospect of postponements was “a common sense question” of whether to go forward with elections in cases where the local authority is due to undergo changes.
List of councils asking to postpone their elections
According to the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) the local authorities asking to postpone their district elections are:– Basildon
– Blackburn with Darwen
– Burnley
– Cheltenham
– Chorley
– Exeter
– Hastings
– Hyndburn
– Ipswich
– Norwich
– Peterborough
– Preston
– Redditch
– Rugby
– Stevenage
– Thurrock
The local authorities asking to postpone their county elections are East and West Sussex County Councils, with their elections administered by these district councils:
– Adur
– Arun
– Chichester
– Crawley
– Eastbourne
– Hastings
– Horsham
– Lewes
– Mid Sussex
– Rother
– Wealden
– Worthing
