Wealden District Council is supposed to operate on a simple principle: decisions taken by those in power must be open to question. Scrutiny exists to make sure of that.
On November 6th in the week before the Scrutiny meeting on November 10th, the people responsible for leading the Council turned their attention not to the issues troubling residents, but to the councillors who were asking questions. I received an email from the Leader of the Council, Cllr James Partridge, ordering me to “stand down” as Chair of the Scrutiny & Performance Committee. His justification was a six-day-old retweet of a post quoting information already released by our MP, Nusrat Ghani. My X profile clearly says that retweets are not endorsements.
Here is the Leaders message:
Dear Cllr Wilson,
I am sorry to say that it has come to my attention that you have apparently put on X a post which implies that the leadership and officers of this council have been involved in corruption.
This is a clear breach of the code of conduct, and as such I request that you stand down as Chair of Scrutiny & Performance Committee whilst the case is investigated.
I have informed Ann Newton as your group leader.
Yours sincerely,
James Partridge
Those who know me well (and Cllr Partridge ought to as I was previously a member of the Alliance) understand that I am not one to respond to bullying and faux outrage. In fact a trigger for my resignation from the Alliance was predicated on Cllr Partridge making similar unreasonable demands in May 2024 (you can read about that here). My emailed response to his latest volley is here:
Dear Cllr Partridge,
Thank you for your email. I appreciate that you are not akin to social media convention.
For clarity, the post I suspect you refer to was not authored by me. It was a retweet of another councillor’s post that itself was a retweet of a public statement made by Nusrat Ghani MP. My X (Twitter) profile clearly states that “retweets are not endorsements.” The retweet, which was made six days ago, simply highlighted an issue of legitimate public interest regarding reported payments to Wealden District Council in relation to asylum accommodation.
At no stage have I alleged, implied, or endorsed any suggestion that the leadership or officers of this Council have been involved in corruption. Any such interpretation is mistaken.
Your request that I “stand down” as Chair of the Scrutiny & Performance Committee has no constitutional or legal basis. Thus, I am politely declining. I have no outstanding standards complaints against my name and even if you were to manufacture one, I would have reasonable time to reply to any allegation you might make.
Given the timing of your email – coming several days after the retweet but immediately before the scheduled Scrutiny & Performance Committee meeting – it is difficult to view this as anything other than an attempt to interfere with the independence of scrutiny.
I will therefore continue to perform my duties as Chair of the Scrutiny & Performance Committee as appointed by Full Council and look forward to seeing you on Monday. I would suggest any further attempt to frustrate the scrutiny process would be unwise on your part. It is disappointing that you have chosen to make such a cynical allegation and only reinforces the poor leadership that Wealden has been subjected to under the Alliance.
You should be aware I will be putting all of this into the public domain in the interests of openness, honesty and transparency.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Wilson
A Coordinated attempt to intimidate
The attack on Scrutiny did not happen in isolation. Two other oppostion scrutiny members, were also targeted that week in a “press release” circulated by the Wealden Green Party (strange as we can directly link 2 cabinet members to its production (neither of which are Green Party members or councillors). The statement was sent from a personal email account belonging to a person associated with the Green Party – he describes himself as a “Communications consultant”) and sought to link them with what was described as an “offensive AI-generated video”. It then named me, suggesting that I should face investigation for “sharing false accusations.” Furthermore, the press release used WDC convention in its language suggesting to the casual reader that it was “official communications”.
This release was not an accident of wording; it was a calculated attempt to intimidate councillors and damage reputations. At least three members of the Cabinet were directly involved in drafting or distributing it. Indeed, the “Author” of the attacking press release was James Partridge himself as confirmed by the meta data in the file sent out by the Wealden Green Party member to the press. Given the content and coordination, it is not unreasonable to assume the entire Cabinet was aware with subsequent comments made by both Liberal Demoncrat and Green Party Councillors also suggesting wider Alliance coordination. Why are Lib Dems and Labour assisting in Green Party propaganda production? Open honest and transparent? I think not.
When a governing administration uses press releases to attack opposition councillors, it crosses a line between politics and abuse of office.
A Leadership that knows better (or at least should)
Two members of the Cabinet, including the Leader, are qualified lawyers. There is a third who studied law but isn’t a lawyer. All three of them should understand both the law and the Constitution of this Council. They know full well that the Leader cannot suspend or remove a Chair of Scrutiny. Their actions are not born of ignorance; they are deliberate.
A Council that weaponises its communications, misuses procedure and attempts to control the people charged with holding it to account is a Council that has lost its moral compass. The leadership is no longer acting in the public interest. At the recent town meeting (Oct 30th) at a point where anger was expressed towards Councillor Partridge, I described him as a “decent man”. If asked in the same forum today I might well chose different words to describe him. It’s a shame.
What they are trying to hide?
This cynical escalation came as the Cabinet (and in particular James Partridge and Rachel Millward) faced mounting public criticism over its handling of the Home Office proposal to house 600 asylum seekers at Crowborough Army Camp. For weeks the leadership failed to communicate clearly with residents, failed to explain when it learned of the plan, and failed to say what action it took to oppose or mitigate it. Instead of providing answers, it attempted to silence those asking the questions.
The timing of the Leader’s demand could not be clearer: just days before the Scrutiny & Performance Committee meeting was be live-streamed from the Council offices. That meeting explored the Council’s immediate response to the Crowborough Camp issue.
Residents deserve better
Scrutiny is not a nuisance to be managed; it is the means by which the public can see whether those in power are doing their jobs. When the Executive tries to decide who is allowed to scrutinise them, the system itself is corrupted.
The people of Wealden deserve a Council that is honest, transparent and accountable. They deserve leadership that welcomes oversight, not one that hides behind spin and intimidation. With the Alliance for Wealden led by Cllrs Partridge and Millward they get neither.
As Chair of Scrutiny, I will continue to represent residents fairly and without fear. Attempts to control or discredit those performing their democratic duty will not succeed.
The Scrutiny & Performance Committee met on Monday 10th November. It was broadcast live on the Council’s website and a recording of the meeting is available for all to see. Residents should watch for themselves and see who is asking questions, and who is trying to stop them. Those who would like to review it can find it here.
What are your thoughts?
In the weeks since October 28th when the asylum camp news was broken in the press there have been mounting and consistent calls for the resignations of both James Partridge and his deputy leader, Rachel Millward. To date, they have belligerently refused.
The public should know the lengths to which the “leadership” of this council goes to attempt to control the narrative. They are allergic to scrutiny and frustratingly unable to acknowledge legitimate criticism from opposition councillors and, more worryingly, the public. It’s not too late for them both to give us an early Christmas present and resign.
I know that opposition councillors, both Conservative and Independent will continue working to hold the “Alliance for Wealden” to account despite their deploying chaff to distract and discredit.
Merry Christmas all and wishing everyone a prosperous and Green Party free 2026.
Comments (positive or negative) welcome.
Factual inaccuracies will be corrected if identified.
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