Councillor sanctioned for multiple conduct breaches

A Reform UK councillor at Leicestershire County Council has been sanctioned for multiple code of conduct breaches.

Member conduct panel hearings, held at County Hall on Friday, considered two complaints against Joseph Boam, one lodged by a former senior council officer and the other by a Conservative councillor.

Boam was publicly censured by the panels, told to apologise to the complainants, and could be removed from the council committees on which he sits.

The councillor did not attend the panel meetings and the hearings were told he did not give any reasons for his absence.

Boam has previously denied breaching the code of conduct and called the complaint process "a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money".

The panel heard the former deputy council leader had refused to co-operate with investigations into the allegations against him.

One complaint, from November 2025, was made by Lauren Haslam, the council's former monitoring officer, in response to a clip of a council meeting which Boam published on a Facebook account he runs.

Haslam alleged the clip had been selectively edited to give "a misleading and inaccurate impression of her response" in a way that was disrespectful to her as a professional officer of the council.

During the meeting, Boam had asked Haslam if she thought that a rise in complaints against elected members was "from far-left activists trying to cancel and silence Reform UK councillors", to which she replied: "No, I wouldn't agree with that statement, thank you."

However, investigators found Boam chose to only publish her initial three-second reply and deliberately omitted a further explanation that followed.

As a result, the panel judged that the post led to her being accused of bias and of being a "nasty piece of work", according to the comments that followed.

Haslam later asked Boam to remove the post, but he did not acknowledge or respond to the email, nor did he remove the post.

Haslam, who worked for the council for over 25 years, told investigators she "could not bear to view his Facebook post" and the replies to it.

"I knew there would be unfounded negative comments about me posted on it by members of the public," she said.

Boam posted: "She is meant to [be] impartial. I speak for many [councillors] in Leicestershire when I say that is most definitely not the case."

Boam denied this breached the code, claiming his comment reflected "a legitimate, shared concern among colleagues".

The panel was told that Boam had not provided any evidence to support his claim about Haslam's impartiality, which she said had caused her "significant distress and reputational damage".

Haslam added the complaint "contributed to [her] decision to resign employment with Leicestershire County Council and seek employment elsewhere".

Alex Oram, an investigator who looked into the complaints, said Boam's omission of Haslam's full response to his question created "a misleading narrative that appeared to present the complainant as unreasonably dismissive" of his concerns.

Oram said Boam had exposed Haslam to public derision, adding that there were legitimate ways for councillors to pursue concerns of political bias but he had not used them.

The investigator said publicly declaring on social media that the monitoring officer was biased represented an "insidious form of public pressure" capable of undermining her professional independence.

The panel, made up of two Reform councillors, two Conservatives and a Liberal Democrat, unanimously upheld Haslam's complaint.

The second complaint against Boam, who represents Whitwick, was made by Ozzy O'Shea, who was the Conservative cabinet member for highways and transport before Reform took control of the council in May 2025.

O'Shea alleged Boam "unfairly and inaccurately" blamed him for the rerouting of bus services down Church Lane in Whitwick in Facebook posts, which included an AI-generated caricature of the Tory councillor.

The meeting was told O'Shea had nothing to do with the decision, which emerged after the election and was a commercial decision by bus firm Arriva.

The panel concluded Boam knew, or should have known, that was the case.

Boam told council officials he did not knowingly publish false information or act in bad faith and said his comments reflected his "genuinely held understanding of political responsibility" for the circumstances leading to the rerouting of the buses.

However, Oram said Boam had gone beyond expressing opinions and had claimed anyone who challenged him was lying.

Boam had tried to misdirect public anger for political advantage, Oram said, and had never accepted what he posted was inaccurate.

The panel dismissed an allegation Boam had harassed O'Shea but ruled he had failed to treat him with respect, and also had brought the council into disrepute.

It also said Boam's failure to cooperate with the investigations and non-attendance at the panels were a breach of the code that had "contributed to a waste of public resources".

The panel unanimously censured Boam and said he should make written apologies to both Haslam and O'Shea within 14 days.

The panel has also recommended that Reform UK council leader Dan Harrison and group whip Andrew Hamilton-Gray remove Boam from two committees on which he sits until May 2027.

The BBC understands Harrison will consider what steps to take at a Reform Group meeting on Tuesday.

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.