A SENIOR councillor who faced a formal allegation of misogyny has been cleared by an independent reviewer following an investigation into a series of recent council meetings.

Inverclyde Council have today confirmed that an independent investigation into a complaint made about former local authority deputy leader Jim Clocherty’s conduct at a February meeting has now concluded and no action will be taken against him.

The complaint was made by independent councillor Lynne Quinn, who previously spoke of a ‘misogynistic and hostile’ environment at the Municipal Buildings and highlighted an incident where she was told to sit down by Councillor Clocherty.

The allegation was made following a full council meeting which saw the local authority approve a controversial council tax rise, which was later reversed by means of a rebate.

Greenock Telegraph:

The Telegraph understands the allegation was one of seven complaints lodged in recent months by elected members about the conduct of their fellow councillors.  

But an Inverclyde Council spokesperson has today stated that an independent reviewer had concluded there was no misogynistic behaviour at council meetings in February.

The council added that the external investigation found ‘no evidence’ to suggest the local authority as a whole was misogynistic.

The probe also looked into the other six conduct complaints which had been raised, but none of the claims were upheld.

Inverclyde Council has declined to provide any further details about the nature of the complaints or the investigation.

An Inverclyde Council spokesperson said: “An investigation carried out by an external, independent, reviewer, has concluded that there was no misogynistic behaviour at the council meetings in February and that there was no evidence to suggest the council, as a whole, is misogynistic.

“The independent investigation also looked into complaints made by elected members about other elected members and none of those complaints were upheld.

“All elected members who were involved have received a full detailed letter with the findings.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss details of these internal matters any further.”