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  "description": "A Leicestershire councillor who accused residents of being “anti-British” and “far-left extremists” has been sanctioned",
  "path": "/councillor-sanctioned-after-accusing-residents-of-being-anti-british-over-st-george-flags/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-21T12:00:11.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.leicester.news",
  "tags": [
    "Leicester Gazette",
    "standards code",
    "Learn more",
    "Click here for membership"
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  "textContent": "This story was written by the ****local democracy reporting service (LDRS),**** a BBC-funded scheme to improve the coverage of issues relating to local democracy. The Leicester Gazette has been a partner in the scheme since March 2024, and so receives some stories as part of it.\n\n****Because LDRS reporters are not employed by the Gazette, their stories do not follow our style guide or**** standards code****.****\n\n\n                            Learn more\n                        \n\nA Leicestershire councillor who accused residents of being “anti-British” and “far-left extremists” after two men erected St George flags in a village has been sanctioned by bosses.\n\nMembers of Leicestershire County Council’s Member Conduct Panel sat on Tuesday (May 5) to discuss an investigation into Councillor Charles Whitford’s conduct after he was accused of “bullying” a resident and “failing to treat members of the public with respect” over a row relating to St George’s flags.\n\nAccording to an investigation report, two unknown men were erecting St George’s flags on lampposts along Main Street and Ashby Street in Markfield on September 21, 2025.\n\nThe complainants, called A, B, C and D, all said they witnessed the event with one recording a video of it where one of the men allegedly told one complainant to “**** off” and called them the C-word.\n\nComplainant D and her neighbours removed the flags from outside their homes before being confronted by two other aggressive men, leading to the police being called.\n\nShortly after the event, Complainant C emailed Cllr Whitford, saying they were “utterly disgusted” that “racist ideology [was] … using misappropriation of our country’s flag” and erecting the flags was “using patriotism as a smokescreen for their obvious racism”.\n\nHowever, Cllr Whitford, who was a Reform and cabinet member at the time, replied to them saying he was “shocked by [their] response to seeing our beautiful English flag” and he “loved to see the flags flying” and he “smiled at every sight of them”.\n\nHe told the complainant that “the flags are being raised to make a statement that most of the people in the UK reject the far left movement as it is anti-British and the destruction of British values and the influx of soon to be millions of mainly muslim men of fighting age coming here to make this country a Muslim state”.\n\nHe also asked the complainant if they “could live in Britain as a Islamic state under sharia law” and that he could not. He said he was “disappointed” in the complainant before signing off.\n\nShortly after, Complainant A emailed Cllr Whitford, who emailed a formal complaint about the flags, noting that the unknown men expressed “racist and homophobic views”.\n\nCllr Whitford said he was “shocked” that the complainant “took offence to our beautiful English flag”, asked if they were “anti-British” and that “95 per cent of English and British love seeing the flags”, adding that the other five per cent were “far left extremists”.\n\nHe also said he was “disappointed” in the person who emailed him.\n\n## Join the conversation\n\nOur app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community.\n\n\n\n\n__Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__\n\nComplainant D also emailed Cllr Whitford a few days after saying they were concerned the flags were “placed there by two drunk men, in darkness, on a Sunday evening”, claiming the men said they would “be better off living in Palestine”.\n\nThey also said that they were concerned the flags were “being co-opted to represent anti-immigration and racist/lslamophobic ideologies” and asked Cllr Whitford’s opinion.\n\nIn response, Cllr Whitford emailed back asking them to “reevaluate [their] own political agenda” and that “98 per cent of British people are in favour of flying these flags”.\n\nFormal complaints were then sent to the county council, after which an independent investigation was conducted into Cllr Whitford to determine whether he had broken the council’s code of conduct.\n\nInvestigators found that Cllr Whitford made an “egregious breach” of the code by using “inflammatory tropes regarding “Sharia law” and “Islamic colonisation” within an official response to a constituent”.\n\nThey also found that he “used his official platform to attempt to shame those who were expressing concerns”.\n\nAllegations were also made that Cllr Whitford created fake social media accounts under the names “Leicestershire Times” and “Mark Ford”.\n\nInvestigators decided not to make a formal finding of the allegation but found that “the most plausible conclusion” was Cllr Whitford created the accounts “to disparage his political opponents and defend himself under a veil of anonymity”.\n\nDuring the meeting, Cllr Whitford, who now represents Restore Britain, said he believed the investigation was “flawed” and “weighted” and that it didn’t take into account other witnesses that he brought forward.\n\nHe said that the investigators “formed a conclusion so far away from the truth” and information was “ignored” while the complaints were part of an “organised attack” on him.\n\nHowever, he said he accepted the report’s findings and apologised many times for his conduct in the emails, adding that he still believed what he had sent in the emails “was true” but should have “responded differently”.\n\nHe added: “I have learned from this obviously and it has cost me dearly. My position on cabinet, gone. My future with Reform: gone and my allowance: gone.\n\n“Whatever you do with me, it can not be worse than what I have already received”.\n\nThe conduct panel unanimously agreed that Cllr Whitford had breached the code of conduct. The panel recommended that Cllr Whitford be formally censured for what it called “unacceptable behaviour to members of the public” as well as issue a public apology at a full council meeting, with an apology also being published online on the council’s website.\n\n* * *\n\n**Before you go…** We've recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we're a small team on a shoestring budget.\n\nNow, we're ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.**\n\nThe app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It's a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community.\n\n* * *",
  "title": "Councillor sanctioned after accusing residents of being ‘anti-British’ over St. George flags",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-21T14:00:12.944Z"
}