Southampton councillor called chief executive a 'buffoon'

Cllr Rob Harwood's post on LinkedIn breached the Southampton City Council's code of conduct, a report has found.

Cllr Harwood made the “inappropriate” remarks about Andrew Travers on LinkedIn, and allowing it to stay online, having been given the opportunity to remove it, amounted to "bullying", the independent investigation found.

Upon receiving a final investigation report last month, Cllr Harwood offered an apology to Mr Travers and retracted the social media comment.

Cllr Rob Harwood

The Conservative member for Harefield published the comment from his personal account on a LinkedIn post by former Southampton City Council returning officer Mark Heath in October.

Mr Travers replaced Mr Heath as returning officer in September 2024.

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A report to the governance committee on Monday by deputy monitoring officer Sarita Riley said Mr Travers submitted a formal member conduct complaint against Cllr Harwood on October 9 last year.

This related to the LinkedIn comment and the councillor’s actions at the full council meeting on September 18 where a report on the change of returning officer was discussed in private session.

Following an initial assessment, Ms Riley concluded there was sufficient indication of a potential breach of the code to merit either informal resolution, mediation or investigation.

Ms Riley considered informal resolution suitable through the removal of the social media comment in full and an apology for any offence caused by the content of the comment.

Both Mr Travers and Cllr Harwood refused to accept this resolution.

The interim chief executive said it was part of a wider complaint relating to the elected member and the Conservative group at the council meeting, while Cllr Harwood did not believe the post amounted to a breach, he felt justified in making the comment and he believed he was acting in a personal capacity.

Southampton City Council interim CEO Andrew Travers

This led to the matter being referred to an independent investigation, which did not uphold the complaints in relation to events at the meeting but found breaches over the social media comment.

The investigator concluded Cllr Harwood was acting in his capacity as a councillor and commenting on the business of the council on LinkedIn.

The independent investigation concluded: “The comment includes a clear reference to Mr Travers and describes him as a ‘buffoon’.

“The term itself was determined to subject the complainant to ridicule and would give a reasonable member of the public reading the comment the impression that the council was being led by someone incapable of fulfilling their duties in a competent way.”

The investigator said that having been given the opportunity to remove the post and failing to do, Cllr Harwood had allowed it to remain online for a “prolonged” period of time, which amounted to “bullying”.

He failed to conduct himself in a manner that promoted and maintained the high standards of member conduct, the investigator added.

Cllr Harwood wrote to Mr Travers, without being prompted to do so, to offer an apology and confirm he had retracted the post immediately after receiving the final report.

Ms Riley’s committee report said: “He has also offered to meet with Mr Travers to ‘clear the air’ between them.

“Mr Travers has accepted the apology and retraction as resolution to this matter.”

In a statement to the LDRS, Cllr Harwood said: “The matter has now been resolved informally.

“The report to the governance committee is for noting only.

“It will not be discussed at the committee in any detail. The matter is now considered resolved.”

Ms Riley said the council took standards of behaviour very seriously, adding that this applied to councillors as much as council officers.

“Political debate can sometimes be heated in council meetings, but it is important that council officers, who are carrying out their duties impartially, are treated with respect and courtesy in internal meetings and in public, including in the media and online,” Ms Riley said.

“We are addressing the issues raised within the report, along with wider training needs, by revising our induction and political awareness training for elected members across all parties.”