Hampshire County Council leader rules out calling on George Madgwick to resign after rape charges are brought
Cllr George Madgwick has been charged with 35 offences including 12 counts of rape
The leader of Hampshire County Council has ruled out calling for the resignation of a councillor charged with rape.
Conservative leader Nick Adams-King has said it was not for his party to call on Cllr George Madgwick to resign after the suspended Reform UK politician was charged with 35 offences including 12 charges of rape.
It comes after both the Green Party and the Labour Party in Portsmouth and Havant called for Cllr Madgwick to resign. Cllr Madgwick now sits on the county council as an unaffiliated member and Portsmouth City Council as non-aligned.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Adams-King said: “There’s a principle about somebody being innocent until they’re proven guilty. The allegations are extremely serious, and those who have come forward to make them deserve compassion, dignity and support throughout the legal process.”
Asked directly whether he or the Conservatives would call on Cllr Madgwick to resign, Cllr Adams-King said: “I don’t think that’s for us to do. That is a decision for him to make, taking full account of his responsibilities to the people he was elected to represent.”
He added: “He needs to consider carefully whether he feels able to serve all his constituents fully and fulfil his responsibilities as an elected representative while also defending himself against the charges he faces.
“Is it possible to reconcile what’s going on with doing that job? And I can’t answer that for him.”
Cllr Madgwick, 37, is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on November 25. He has issued a statement saying he denies the charges.
Reform UK suspended Cllr Madgwick with immediate effect after the charges were announced.
Cllr Madgwick resigned as leader of the Reform group at the county council and left the group but remains an unaffiliated county councillor.