Darren Grimes has been “left red faced” after the police came out to rapidly rebut the Reform councillor’s claim he was advised not to hold local surgeries for security reasons.
The deputy leader of Durham County Council and former GB News host was approached by a resident seeking help with parking issues in his ward, but the resident was left shocked when Grimes couldn’t direct them to where they could meet face to face.
“Can you confirm surgery dates and any public meetings where this [issue] will be covered?” he asked, according to Byline Times, which broke the story.
But Grimes told the voter: “To be honest I am still figuring out how to go about that at this moment. The police have advised me not to conduct such events due to security concerns, which I do not want to do.”
“I’ll get back to you if [a Reform colleague] and I do get one set up.”
When the resident went to confirm this with the authorities, Grimes was left “red faced”.
A senior PCC spokesperson for Joy Allen, Durham Police & Crime Commissioner, said: “The police have not [their emphasis] advised councillors not to hold surgeries in the community. They would only do this in exceptional circumstances i.e. if there was a specific risk identified.”
A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary confirmed this to the newspaper, saying: “No, we have not told councillors they should not hold in-person surgeries for security reasons.”
One opposition Durham councillor said: “I’ve never had that sort of advice from a police officer…When you’re actually elected and you’re just getting on with the job of being a councillor, there’s much less concern over those things [than during elections]. So I’d be very surprised if the police had advised that surgery didn’t take place.
“They might have made some recommendations on how to do them safely. But yes, it’s very unlikely that they would have advised not to do them.”
They added: “He’d have somebody with him normally, and that’s what anyone that’s what we’d recommend any councillor did – not to do it on their own. That’s the principal safeguarding measure. The police are fantastic when it comes to looking after the wellbeing of elected people. They’re proactive.”