A council meeting descended into chaos when a Labour councillor accused a Reform member of being expelled by the Conservatives for sending a ‘private parts’ photo.
Labour’s Aidan McGurran angrily made the allegation against Reform UK councillor Jaymey McIvor during a dramatic Essex County Council full meeting on January 10.
The row erupted over a controversial decision by the council to ask the Government to cancel its local elections scheduled for May, which Mr McIvor had opposed.
But Mr McGurran, who represents Pitsea, said: ‘I will take no lectures from someone who’s sat here under false pretences. He was elected as a Conservative councillor.
‘He was elected as a Conservative councillor [repeat], he’s now representing Reform, and he hasn’t had the decency to hold a by-election and has no intention to do so.
‘And if you’re really interested in transparency and democracy Jaymey, tell the people of Ongar why you were expelled from the Conservative Party and jumped ship.
‘The reason is you sent an unsolicited picture of your private parts, which is a criminal offence. Tell people that and see what they think of it then.’
Mr McGurran was then told by chairwoman Jill Reeves: ‘Councillor McGurran, when I stand, you have to sit.’ But he remained standing, as he was ordered again to ‘sit’.
Labour’s Aidan McGurran (pictured) accused Reform UK councillor Jaymey McIvor of sending a ‘private parts’ photograph, during a heated Essex County Council meeting on January 10
Reform UK councillor Jaymey McIvor spoke later on in the meeting but did not address the allegation. After the meeting, he said he had not sent unsolicited explicit pictures of himself
Ms Reeves continued: ‘You have to sit when I stand.’ But Mr McGurran said: ‘I’m not allowed to tell the truth about a criminal offence?’
Ms Reeves then added: ‘Councillor McGurran! Order please.’
When Mr McIvor spoke later on in the meeting, he did not refer to the allegation – and later claimed that he did not hear it being made.
However, Mr McIvor then told BBC News following the meeting that he had not sent unsolicited explicit pictures of himself.
A video of Mr McGurran making the allegation was published in full by BBC News. But the official video from the meeting on the Essex County Council YouTube channel was cut after ‘has no intention to do so’ until ‘order please’ – therefore removing the allegation.
MailOnline contacted Essex County Council for an explanation on this, and a spokesperson replied: ‘There is a risk of defamation in respect of this broadcast, where the law requires a right of reply to be given when publishing allegations like these.
‘The allegation has of course been published elsewhere by the media, along with the comments of the individual concerned.
‘The council is not a media organisation, so is not in a position to prove or disprove the allegations, or publish a right of reply. Therefore, a very short part of the recording has been removed.’
Mr McIvor, who represents Ongar, is Essex County Council’s only Reform councillor having been initially elected as a Conservative in 2021 before switching to Nigel Farage’s party.
Mr McGurran was ordered by chairwoman Jill Reeves (above) to ‘sit’, but he remained standing
Asked about the allegation by Essex Live after the meeting, Mr McIvor said: ‘I honestly didn’t hear him say that – there was a lot of shouting going on. What I will say is he is referring to why I am no longer in the Conservative Party.
‘All I would simply say is people should worry about their own residents and things going on in their own communities rather than what other councillors are and are not doing.’
It comes after Essex County Council voted in favour last week of cancelling the elections this May so they can focus on a shake-up of local government.
But Mr McIvor said that he visited the area Mr McGurran represents to ask people about the plans, and ‘everyone I spoke to thought there should be elections’.
He added: ‘I think perhaps he is a bit angry that I did that. And I do not know why any sensible councillor would start saying things like that in the council chamber.
‘But, I honestly didn’t hear him say that, so it would be very wrong of me to comment.’
Mr McIvor (left) later posted a clip on Instagram of him speaking behind Mr McGurran (right)
Asked whether he denied the claims, Mr McIvor added: ‘I don’t think this meeting is about me; it’s about democracy.’
In June last year, the Conservatives dropped Mr McIvor as one of their parliamentary candidates hours before nominations closed after receiving a complaint about his conduct.
Mr McIvor had been due to fight the Hemel Hempstead seat for the Tories in the General Election, but announced on June 7 that he was withdrawing from the contest ‘for personal reasons’.
In a post on X just 50 minutes before the 4pm deadline for submitting nominations, the councillor said he was ‘sad’ to announce he was no longer a candidate.
In a message to local members, Hemel Hempstead Conservative Association chairman William Wyatt-Lowe said Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) had made him and Mr McIvor aware of ‘an anonymous complaint’ about the candidate’s ‘prior conduct’.
Mr McIvor joined Reform UK in October. He is pictured with the party’s leader Nigel Farage
The message said Mr McIvor had denied the allegations and refused to resign his candidacy, but his party membership had been suspended pending an investigation meaning he was not eligible to stand as the party’s candidate.
The Conservatives later confirmed that Mr McIvor was expelled from the party on October 9 after a disciplinary hearing.
Then on October 24, Mr McIvor announced on X that he had joined Reform because it ‘puts people and country first’, adding that the Conservatives were ‘too weak to deal with its handful of toxic individuals’ and ‘tried to punish my ambition and vision’.
A Reform spokesman said at the time that it believed Mr McIvor ‘has been the victim of vicious Tory infighting’, adding: ‘We look forward to announcing many more councillors joining us in Essex from the Tory sinking ship.’
As for the local elections this May, Essex County Council and Thurrock Council have now requested that these are postponed. Southend-on-Sea City Council has no planned elections this year.
Mr McIvor (pictured), who represents Ongar, is Essex County Council’s only Reform councillor having been initially elected as a Conservative in 2021 before switching to Mr Farage’s party
The three councils wrote to the Government to confirm they ‘want to proceed with devolution and the reorganisation of local councils in the area’, they said in a joint statement last week.
It added: ‘The letter to the Minister for Local Government confirms that the councils want to be part of the Government’s devolution priority programme.’
The moment in the council chamber is reminiscent of a famous Zoom meeting of Handforth Parish Council which spiralled into chaos and racked up millions of views online in February 2021.
Stand-in clerk Jackie Weaver took the internet by storm when footage of the meeting showed her booting out two troublesome council members and being famously told ‘you have no authority here’.
MailOnline has contacted Mr McIvor, the Conservatives and Reform for comment.
