A council boss is facing a potential investigation after tweeting a picture of a rival’s election leaflet on a toilet roll holder. Coun Janet Emsley, deputy leader of Rochdale council, posted the snap of Conservative candidate John Hartely’s mailshot - appearing to suggest it be used as loo paper. The picture has now been deleted.
It comes after Mr Hartley - Labour councillor for Littleborough Lakeside between 2012 and 2022 - declared he would be standing for the Tories in the ward he had previously represented. The move infuriated Labour councillors - particularly former ward colleagues Coun Emsley and Coun Tom Besford - with the latter saying it ‘spoke volumes of his moral compass and his values’.
The bad blood appeared to have continued with Coun Emsley’s tweet, which Coun Hartley has dismissed as a ‘childish stunt’. The Manchester Evening News has learned that a complaint about Coun Emsley’s conduct has been lodged with the council by Ian Jackson.
