The Public Services Ombudsman has launched an investigation after a Conservative politician was allegedly recorded saying “all white men should have a Black slave”.
Andrew Edwards, a county councillor and former magistrate in Pembrokeshire, Wales, is also accused of saying Black people are of “lower class” than white people during a clip that was posted online. Mr Edwards referred himself to the ombudsman as reports of the comments were exposed.
The Conservative group on Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed it was investigating the allegations and Mr Edwards, who is also a school governor, has now been suspended.
On Friday, the ombudsman confirmed it too had launched an investigation into Mr Edwards.
“The ombudsman received a self-referral from Councillor Andrew Edwards of Pembrokeshire County Council on 11 April,” a spokesperson said. “The Ombudsman has started an investigation, Councillor Edwards and the monitoring officer of the council have been advised of this decision.”
If a formal investigation takes place, the ombudsman may refer the case to Pembrokeshire County Council’s standards committee or to the Adjudication Panel for Wales for review.
In the most severe cases, the Adjudication Panel can decide to disqualify a councillor from holding office for up to five years.
In the 16-second recording, a man can be heard saying: “Nothing wrong with the skin colour at all. (...) I think all white men should have a Black man as a slave or Black woman as a slave, you know.”
“There’s nothing wrong with skin colour, it’s just that they’re lower class than us white people.”
It is not clear when or where the clip was recorded.
The council’s Conservative group leader, Di Clements, said Mr Edwards left the party group on the council on Tuesday but would not comment further until the ombudsman’s report.
A spokesperson for the Labour group said: “The views contained within this recording are disgusting.
”Racism has absolutely no place in our society, let alone in the views expressed by an elected member on Pembrokeshire County Council.”
