No complaints against councillors were upheld over the last year
A number of complaints were made in the week after the comments were made but none of them were upheld(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A senior Wirral councillor has been cleared after receiving complaints over comments she made earlier this year Labour councillor Liz Grey, who chairs the council’s environment, climate emergency, and transport committee, came under fire from Wirral Council’s Conservatives over what she said during a debate about how the local authority could better engage with the public at a committee meeting on February 19.
At the meeting, Cllr Grey said the council needed to improve accessibility when it came to engagement, adding: “I was also really mindful of the demographics. My concern is with the demographic reach of our consultations. I know work is being done to improve our consultations and I’m really pleased with that.
“I just feel it’s really important we don’t just listen to the views of, for example, old white men.”
The comments later sparked a row, with the leader of the council’s Conservative group hitting out at Cllr Grey as well as then-Wirral Council leader Cllr Paul Stuart for not asking for the remarks to be withdrawn or Cllr Grey to apologise. Cllr Green said the comments made by Cllr Grey were “derogatory and dismissive,” adding: “If Councillor Grey is not interested in the views of a significant proportion of the Borough, she is clearly in the wrong job.
“Conservative Councillors will always treat all residents equally, without favour to a particular group, and to be open and transparent in those decisions. Judging by Councillor Grey’s comments, it appears not all councillors are doing so.”
Complaints were understood to have been made following the meeting. Papers published ahead of a constitution and standards committee said a number of complaints were made against councillors between February 20 and 27.
Complaints were made by 11 people between these dates though these may not all be related to Cllr Grey’s comments. However no breaches of the councillors’ code of conduct was found in any of the cases.
This was also the case for all complaints made by 19 people between April 2024 and March 2025 bar one which was withdrawn.
A council report said: “Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 a total of 26 complaints in respect of the conduct of 9 Members have been received. The complaints were received from 19 different complainants.
“There were 10 complaints raised by Members against other Members. On 3 occasions more than one Member complained about one subject Member in the same complaint.
“10 individual members of the public complained about the conduct of one Member on one occasion. 2 members of the public complained about more than one Member in the same complaint. No complaints were referred for a formal investigation.”
Responding to criticism of the comments from Conservatives and members of the public on social media, Cllr Grey at the time said: “It is outrageous that Conservatives should present a commentary on my words as though I said the opposite of what they heard me say.”
Cllr Grey later told the ECHO: “For the avoidance of doubt, I said that we needed to improve the demographic reach of our consultations as we needed to ensure all groups were listened to and “not just, for example, older white men,””adding: “I hope that helps distinguish the truth from any lies and reassures anyone interested that I do indeed value the views of older, white men.
“It is just that I want us to hear the views of all other Wirral residents too and our consultations often fail to gain responses from a number of demographic groups, especially young people.”
Cllr Grey was approached again for comment.