Housing chief who quit after South London Press exposé broke town hall rules, investigation finds

By Robert Frith, local democracy reporter

 

A councillor who trolled housing activists through an anonymous Twitter account broke council rules, an investigation has found.

Cllr Leo Pollak breached Southwark council’s code of conduct by posting his opinions about housing anonymously through the @SouthwarkYIMBY Twitter account.

The Labour councillor for South Bermondsey was the council’s housing chief when he branded a campaign to stop the construction of houses on a basketball court “pathetic nimbyism” through the anonymous account.

He resigned from his role as cabinet member for housing in February 2021 after he was revealed to be the man behind @SouthwarkYIMBY following a South London Press investigation.

Following his exposure, Southwark council received a complaint about his tweets.

It commissioned a law firm to investigate whether Cllr Pollak had broken any rules.

The report by law firm, Bevan Brittan, found that while sometimes “provactive,” the content of Cllr Pollak’s tweets didn’t breach the council’s code of conduct.

But in acting anonymously, he broke council rules.

The report says: “The tweets regarding Priory Court and the Elim estate ballcourt, the content was at times provocative, but did not amount to breach.

“Those with whom the Councillor was engaging had voluntarily chosen to involve themselves publicly in matters of public concern, and the enhanced protection afforded by Article 10, as well as the higher thresholds of tolerance expected, applied to both the Councillor and those third parties.

“We do however find that by acting anonymously the Councillor has breached the Code.”

The report stopped short of calling for further action against Cllr Pollak.

It said he had shown “remorse” for his behaviour and resigned from his role as housing chief.

The report also noted that Cllr Pollak had written an apology to the individual who complained about his tweets.

It said: “He has repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions, including via the statement he made to Council after he had admitted that he was behind the Account, and by way of his self-referral through the standards regime.

“Although it took longer than was ideal, the Councillor has now written an apology to the Complainant, which was received on 24 June 2021.

“Seeking to further his views by way of anonymous postings through the Account was ill considered and inappropriate, which he wholeheartedly acknowledges. It is likely that the Councillor will have learnt a number of valuable lessons from this unfortunate episode.

“In light of the above, we do not recommend that any further action is required.”

Cllr Pollak told investigators that he created the anonymous Twitter account to address misinformation about social housing schemes in Southwark.

He said he resorted to using a secret identity after failing to counter lies on his named social media account.

Cllr Pollak has been contacted for comment.

Southwark Council has been contacted.