The mayor of Swindon has resigned after a standards committee found him guilty of making derogatory remarks about disabled people.
At a meeting last October, several councillors said they heard Nick Martin say ‘are we still letting Mongols have sex with each other?’
The standards committee said he had breached the members’ code of conduct and should apologise.
In a letter to Swindon Council’s solicitor – published in The Swindon Advertiser – Cllr Martin tendered his resignation saying he had cooperated with the committee’s investigation, accepted the findings and apologised.
He added: ‘However, it is clear that this will not stop the attacks on the office and person of mayor. Therefore, I deem it best for the people of Swindon to resign.’
Prior to Cllr Martin’s resignation, Richard Hawkes, chief executive of disability charity Scope, had described his comments as disturbing.
‘This is about deep-seated ignorance towards disabled people and a lack of acceptance that disabled people have sex lives, which can be just as fulfilling – or unfulfilling – as anyone else’s.
‘The mayor’s public apology needs to acknowledge that it is more than just his words that are at fault. And that with his office, comes a responsibility to represent all of his constituents.’
