Warwick District Council's deputy leader resigns over controversial tweet

The deputy leader of Warwick District Council has resigned .

Earlier this month, the Labour Group issued a call for Conservative councillor Moira-Ann Grainger (Warwick All Saints and Woodloes) to resign from her leadership roles after a tweet resurfaced which the group described as 'racist'.

Her tweet was originally posted last year and was deleted after a complaint, but was brought to the public’s attention after being re-posted in a recent Twitter thread.

In the tweet, Cllr Grainger said that she was going to “choose a random Indian landline number” and ask if “they have had an accident in the last 3 years”.

At a full council meeting on January 7, Cllr Grainger issued a statement concerning the message where she said she was made aware of the tweet in summer and that 'the matter was referred to the monitoring officer and the independent person'.

She also said the tweet was posted by her husband and that 'the monitoring officer felt that I was not responsible and therefore no further action was required at that time'.

Cllr Grainger added that because there were concerns about breaching the council's code of conduct on social media, the issue was again sent to the monitoring officer.

Now Warwick District Council have confirmed Cllr Grainger has resigned from certain roles at the council.

A spokesperson from Warwick District Council said: "Cllr Moira-Ann Grainger has resigned her leadership position and responsibility for the portfolios for culture and neighbourhood services.

"In resigning, Cllr Grainger personally accepted responsibility for her Twitter account and acknowledged that the tweet was harmful to the high standards required in public life, potentially damaging the good standing of the council."

Cllr Moira-Ann Grainger has been contacted for a comment.