Paul Fellows elected as new South Kesteven Council chairman after apology for ‘tw*t’ comment

A councillor who called another member a ‘tw*t’ during a recent meeting has been elected as the authority’s new chairman — after issuing an apology for his remark.

Bourne Austerby Councillor Paul Fellows (Ind) stood at the beginning of South Kesteven District Council’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday to apologise for his actions at the February 29 meeting of the authority.

He said: “This was wrong, and I should not have done it. I apologise unreservedly to all members of the council and to residents.”

A few minutes later, Coun Philip Knowles (Ind) stood to nominate him as chairman of the authority for 2024-25, describing him as a ‘very active, enthusiastic, and relentless ambassador for the district in all of its public-facing roles’.

He added that he was ‘an eminently sensible, thoughtful, humble, conscientious chair of meetings’.

He was seconded by Coun Harrish Bisnauthsing (Lib Dem): “I’m pretty sure that I have great confidence in him to discharge his duties with planning and diplomacy, and I wish him plenty of success.”

The incident that sparked the apology followed a tongue-in-cheek comment by Coun Ben Green (Con) about the budget three hours into a meeting.

Coun Paul Fellows was originally videoed saying 'tw*t' following the comment, sparking complaints. The online video of the meeting has since been censored so that viewers cannot see the words uttered.

In a previous statement, he said: “A point of order/information was raised by Coun Green towards the end of a long and important meeting. I considered this to be of very little relevance and designed to be provocative.

“I made a comment, a single-word observation, to myself. At the time, I was not taking part in the debate or using a microphone.

“It was pointed out to me some days later what I had done. I should not have used that word.

“I immediately sent, by private email, an apology to all councillors and a separate apology to Coun Green.”

He denied that he had 'hurled' the comment across the chamber.

“The matter was officially investigated by democratic services,” he said.

“I consider the matter closed.”

Conservative councillors, however, have criticised the incident and said it was a “clear breach of the council’s code of conduct” despite officers finding the complaints insufficient for formal investigation given that an informal resolution was achieved.

Taking his seat as chairman of the council, Coun Fellows thanked his supporters, adding: “I hope that during the course of the coming year, I earn that support and help to move forward. It’s an honour to have this post, and I hope I can do it justice.”

He praised former chairman Coun Gloria Johnson (Con), who was thanked for her year of service by numerous members of the council.

Leader of the council Ashley Baxter (Ind) said: “You’ve been an excellent chair, you’ve had some difficult people to deal with from across the chamber and I’m really grateful for the way you have composed yourself and kept us in order over here.”

Coun Ian Selby (Ind) was voted in as vice-chairman, taking over from Coun Fellows.