Canterbury Liberal Democrats Councillors Michael Dixey and Alex Ricketts Innocent Of All Charges

Following an anonymous complaint to Canterbury City Council in March of this year, Councillors Alex Ricketts and Michael Dixey have been cleared of any wrongdoing by both the Council’s Monitoring Officer and Kent Police.

Although anonymous complaints are not usually accepted, the City Council felt the need to ensure this was investigated fully, including referring the matter to Kent Police. After a thorough process, taking over two months, the matter has now been closed, concluding that both Councillors had been transparent regarding their involvement in their respective companies having appropriately declared their interests on a different section of the Disclosable Pecuniary Interests form. There is no right to appeal this decision for the initial complainant, and the Council has closed its investigation.

Councillor Mike Sole, leader of the Lib Dem Group on Canterbury City Council said:

“It was clear from the outset that this anonymous complaint was vindictive and groundless. I am obviously delighted that both Michael and Alex, who are exemplary Councillors, have been found to have done nothing wrong, an outcome that was never in doubt. However, the fact that they have been wrongly accused on the basis of an anonymous complaint that has taken up both council and police time, is inexcusable.”

Councillor Dixey said of the ruling:

“I am of course relieved this matter has concluded with the expected result that both Alex and I have been cleared of any wrongdoing. It was obvious to anyone who examined the detail that this was a malicious, and entirely baseless complaint, which should have been dismissed out of hand.”

Councillor Ricketts, on hearing the news said:

“I have been clear all along that I have nothing to hide, and I suppose I should be grateful that this has eventually been confirmed. That it took two months and a police investigation to do so is less than ideal.”

Notes for Editors:

Michael Dixey is a councillor in Westgate ward and has been Deputy Leader of the Council since May 2023 as well as Cabinet Member for Property, Performance and Oversight

Alex Ricketts is a councillor for Blean Forest ward and Cabinet Member for Tourism, Movement and Rural Development, and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat Group.

An anonymous complaint from “Stop The Rot Canterbury”, an organisation with no obvious provenance or identifiable members, was submitted to Canterbury City Council on 26 March 2024, and copied to numerous media outlets and prominent people.

The complaint was finally resolved, on 28 May 2024, with no further action being taken.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact:

Alex Ricketts alex@alexricketts.com 0790008955