THE SADDLEWORTH councillor found to have recorded a private meeting that was leaked on social media admits he ‘did the wrong thing for the right reasons.’
But Mark Kenyon believes the £10,000 cost of an investigation and hearing that concluded recirculating a 16-month-old apology was enough was a waste of public money.
The Saddleworth West and Lees Liberal Democrat broke Oldham Council’s code of conduct taking audio of a private meeting in May 2024 involving Labour Cllr Arooj Shah and Shaw Independent Cllrs Marc Hince and Lisa Navesey.
It was then leaked on social media and Cllr Kenyon holds his hands up – he should not have done it.
However, he told Saddleworth Independent he did it in the best interests of the people and claims of using ‘sophisticated spyware’ are wrong, it was simply the recorder app on his phone.
“I did the wrong thing for the right reasons,” Cllr Kenyon said. “It’s made my job 10 times harder,
“I was really concerned about what I was hearing from the room, and I thought people really needed to know.
“If people ask me ‘Why?’ I’d say it was because I was concerned about what I was hearing from the room.
“The public had a right to know about what was being done there.
“If you ask me, ‘Do I regret doing it?’ Then answer is yes, 100 per cent. I did the wrong thing for the right reasons at the time.
“It was a spur of the moment thing.
“Labour like to talk about sophisticated spyware – that’s absolute codswallop. It was just the voice recorder on my phone.
“It’s on everybody’s phone. If that’s sophisticated spyware, everyone’s got it.”
The complaint surrounded a meeting between Cllr Shah and Cllrs Hince and Navesey, with the chief executive Harry Catherall – who the authority said was there as a ‘mediator’ – and assistant Shelley Kipling on Monday, May 20, 2024.
At the time, Cllr Shah was negotiating with the independents in a bid to secure her leadership after Labour lost its overall majority in the local elections.
Audio was then ‘leaked’ on social media and in the leader’s complaint, she says: “Having requested a copy of the CCTV on the members’ corridor and upon reviewing it, seeing Saddleworth West and Lees Councillor – and Liberal Democrat group chief whip – Mark Kenyon loitering outside my office door listening with his ear practically pressed up against the door before he places some sort of listening device at the foot of my door, shocked me to my core.
“Cllr Kenyon can clearly be seen listening to whatever device he has placed outside my office whilst he walks in and out of the group room – there is no conceivable explanation for his behaviour here unless he had the express permission of his group leader and those members present in the room.
“The behaviour on display here is shocking, it cannot be normalised. I have not – nor would I ever – consider bugging my opponents office under any circumstances.”
Speaking about the incident, Cllr Kenyon added: “The gents’ bathroom is right opposite the room where this meeting was taking place.
“As I approached the room, I could hear what was bring said. I recorded what I could hear.
“I can’t sit there and say I didn’t mean for it to be leaked. The public had a right to know.”
Cllr Kenyon’s actions also implicated Liberal Democrat group leader Howard Sykes and Cllrs Louie Hamblett and Dave Murphy.
And while the feedback from political opponents came as no surprise, he believes he exposed what was going on behind the scenes.
He told the Independent: “My colleagues have had a lot of abuse and unnecessary criticism.
“It’s always been like that. Ever since it happened back in May 2024, the council asked everyone not to comment on that until the standards process was complete.
“I complied with that, I never said a word, but for Labour it was open season on me and all my colleagues.
“I know why I did it, I am sorry for doing it and I wouldn’t do it again, but I do think the public has a right to know what’s going on.
“Marc Hince says all the abuse that’s been directed at him is because of me. That’s wrong.
“Even the independent investigation found most of the abuse directed at people like him was because they were doing a secret deal.
“All I did was provide the evidence and showed what people are prepared to do.”
After an 18-month investigation, Cllr Kenyon was deemed to have breached the councillor’s code of conduct on three counts.
Oldham Council’s standards sub-committee found he needed to apologise again, despite doing so more than a year previously.
Cllrs Hamblett, Sykes and Murphy were cleared of that accusation, and the panel is also said to have ruled there was no case to answer into claims they did not co-operate with the investigation.
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