A Tory mayor resigned yesterday after calling disabled people “mongols” during a council meeting – about abuse they might face.
Two councillors said Nick Martin, 62, asked them “they aren’t still letting those mongols have sex with each other are they?”
They reported his “distasteful” remark to investigators who concluded he had breached the members’ code of conduct and last week he was ordered to apologise.
Mr Martin had denied making the remark six months ago but after mounting pressure he quit as Mayor of Swindon, Wilts.
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He wrote to the borough council saying he was resigning with immediate effect but ‘with regret’.
He added: “I have made new apologies and am abiding by the other recommendations from the Standards Assessment Panel.
“However, it is clear that this will not stop the attacks on the office and person of mayor.”
His comments came as a council officer made a presentation to a safeguarding adults meeting about issues faced by disabled adults in the borough.
Mr. Martin was allowed to stay on after he survived a vote of no confidence during a heated council meeting earlier this year.
He was referred to the authority’s standards board and an independent officer’s report was drawn up and passed to an assessment panel who this week ordered him to apologise.
Conservative leader of the council, David Renard, said the process had “proved to be a robust system” and added: “It was right and proper that due process took its course.
“The mayor accepted the recommendations and has agreed to resign.
“I think he has made the best decision that he could, in the interests of the office of the mayor and all involved.”
It is understood Mr. Martin will remain as a councillor on Swindon Borough Council.
