Tory Manning’s Clanger Causes Clamour in Ash County Candidate Debate

Published on: 25 Apr, 2021
Updated on: 26 Apr, 2021

The Rev’d Neil Lambert (top left) reminds Nigel Manning that his mic is still on as candidate Carla Morson can be seen reacting to the remarks made at the end of the Zoom call.

By David Reading

Ash Parish Council chairman and leader of GBC’s Tory group Nigel Manning, campaigning for a Conservative seat on Surrey County Council next month, has dropped a clanger that’s caused a clamour among residents.

At the end of a parish Q&A session on Zoom, not realising the call was still live, Cllr Manning and a woman with him made insulting comments, seemingly aimed at fellow candidate Carla Morson, a Liberal Democrat.

Cllr Nigel Manning during an online video call in 2020.

The woman, who sounded like Cllr Manning’s partner and fellow councillor Marsha Moseley, Guildford’s deputy mayor, said: “No idea what she’s talking about. All she does is trot about.”

The Rev’d Neil Lambert, vicar of Ash Vale, chairing the session, warned them: “Ooh careful, you’re still on.”

Cllr Manning then said: “I can’t wait for her to leave.” The vicar warned again: “Nigel, your mic’s still on. Whoops.” Then the connection is cut, but by then many viewers were furious.

Until then, the session had appeared amicable, with Cllr Manning, Ms Morson and Labour candidate Peter Kimber answering residents.

Mr Kimber, who had, seconds before, thanked his fellow candidates for a civil debate, looked shocked at the remarks and said later: “I tried to run a positive campaign for Ash, and it was disappointing not all candidates have done the same.

“While we might not necessarily agree with each other’s views, I believe it’s important to be courteous in politics. These comments were not.”

Ms Morson said: “It was disappointing to hear the comments. But I am carrying on as normal.”

See the full Ash SCC Division Zoom hustings recording here. The controversial remarks are made in the final minute.

Ash Vale resident Nathan Khan, a Liberal Democrat, was so infuriated he has made a complaint to the monitoring officer at Guildford Borough Council. He has also made a separate complaint to Surrey’s monitoring officer about Cllr Moseley, herself a county councillor.

Cllr Marsha Moseley will be made Mayor of Guildford for a second time in May.

Nicky Coaley, another resident, was also angered. “Although I’m a Conservative myself, I think it’s time for a change in our local politics,” she said.

“I was appalled he should say something like that about another candidate, especially someone who has done such a lot for the community. It’s not the behaviour I would expect from a long-standing councillor who claims to have a wealth of experience.

“I will be voting for the person, not the party. I want to see our local councils showing they care about the people they represent and showing they are willing to listen to what people want.”

The online session was run by the Ash and Ash Vale Community Facebook group, who had invited the candidates for the Ash Division. Afterwards, Facebook users expressed their opinions in no uncertain terms.

One said: “I have always voted Conservative but after the last few videos I have seen, they will not be getting my vote in local elections. This is completely unacceptable and it’s not the first time Carla has been subjected to this sort of behaviour.”

Another said: “That very last few seconds when the ‘public’ façade slips is very telling. This is not the first time our local councillors have let their façade slip on a social/virtual platform. Hope an apology is made.”

A third said: “How appalling. No excuses. We’ve been using this form of communication for over a year. True colours indeed. The sooner we are rid of people like this being in charge the sooner we’ll have a better community working together.”

Ash resident Mrs Pat Scott said: “I was totally amazed that someone conversant with modern technology, in a position of being ‘very experienced’ (his own words), had made the basic mistake of not switching off his microphone and allowing a private conversation to be overheard.”

Cllrs Manning and Moseley have been asked for their reactions. At time of publication, no comment had been received.

Online remarks have caused trouble before at the Tory-dominated, 11-member Ash Parish Council. Last September, Conservative supporter Bill Cole was co-opted on to the council in an online public meeting.

He directed what was perceived as a disrespectful comment at rival candidate Ms Morson, standing as an Independent. Viewers cried “Disgusting behaviour”, “Utterly appalling” and “Roll on the election”.

In 2016, Cllr Moseley found herself in the line of fire when she compared people in the public gallery at a borough council planning meeting to a “bloody rabble”, not realising people could hear.

An independent review recommended she make a public apology at a council meeting but she refused, instead issuing email apologies to the complainants.

See also stories relating to “bloody rabble” remark by Cllr Marsha Moseley.

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