Councillor for Silsden and Steeton ‘was victim of smears’

A leaked report reveals a panel of three senior Tories ruled there was a deliberate attempt to discredit former Bradford Council executive member Councillor Adrian Naylor, which formed the backdrop to a candidate sele-ction meeting last November.

It stated: “We have little hesitation in concluding that there was clearly a smear campaign about Councillor Naylor.”

The inquiry heard about a “whispering campaign against Councillor Naylor, which in short was based around alleged inappropriate conduct towards council officials”.

The panel said it was “shown absolutely no reliable evidence of any wrongdoing by Councillor Naylor”, despite hearing of many concerns, issues and allegations.

All witnesses called had denied involvement in the smear campaign and the inquiry did not seek to point the finger of blame.

According to the report, the panel ruled fellow ward councillor Andrew Mallinson and Bradford Council Conservative group leader Glen Miller should not have been involved in determining Coun Naylor’s re-selection for the Craven ward, which includes Silsden and Steeton.

“The histories between the individuals were such that they could not be said to be impartial,” the report stated.

Former Tory member Coun Naylor, who lives at High Brunthwaite, Silsden, went on to retain his seat in May’s elections as an independent candidate, defeating Conser-vative prospect Andrew Rowley.

Panel members heard Coun Miller’s reason for not re-selecting Coun Naylor was due to his allegedly “shoddy attire and attitude” at a selection meeting last November.

Coun Miller also told the panel he believed Coun Naylor refused to work with his ward colleagues.

Coun Naylor said: “I welcome the report and its findings, which exonerate me.”

Coun Miller declined to comment. Coun Mallinson said he never instigated any slur campaign against Coun Naylor and stuck to purely election campaigning in the run-up to the polls.