Councillor will not be investigated after self-referring himself to standards board

Wednesday, 17 September 2025 20:44

By Chris Gee

A leading councillor will not be investigated by the council after allegations were made that he breached its code of conduct.

Bury council’s chief legal officer has said the allegations of breaches of the council’s code of conduct about Coun Russell Bernstein did not warrant an investigation.

Coun Bernstein was Conservative group leader and leader of the opposition on the council until internal party disputes led to his resignation from the party in July.

The row, which has left Tory members bitterly divided in the borough, also led to his deputy Jo Lancaster and councillors Dene Vernon and Luis McBriar
quitting the Conservatives.

All four now sit as Independents. The resignations left the Conservatives with just six members at Bury Town Hall and promoted hyper-local party Radcliffe First, with eight sitting members, to the official opposition to Labour.

Coun Bernstein had been involved in a dispute with the Bury Conservative Association, which made a decision to deselect him from standing for the Tories in next May’s elections.

Prior to him leaving the party, Coun Bernstein had been the subject of internal Conservative party disciplinary proceedings which included alleged breaches of the council’s code of conduct.

The internal party disciplinary process did not proceed following his resignation.

However, Coun Bernstein self-referred himself to the council’s standards process due to the nature of those complaints referring to the council code of conduct.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has seen a letter from the council’s director of law and democratic services which completely clears Coun Bernstein of any wrongdoing in his role as a councillor.

It states: “The conduct complained of does not relate to conduct undertaken as a councillor “If this matter were to be considered as conduct undertaken under the code, it is clear that the matters complained of are political tit for tat, and not ones which warrant investigation.”

The letter adds that the council now ‘considers this matter closed’. Coun Bernstein said he was pleased that the complaints did not warrant an investigation.

He said: “I always contended the complaint was never about my conduct as a councillor and was always a political manoeuvre aimed to discredit me and undermine my reputation.

“I am grateful under independent scrutiny that my assertion has been confirmed.

“I look forward to standing in Pilkington Park at the next local elections where I can continue my work delivering for people on local issues.”