Make a complaint about a Councillor

Every local authority must adopt a Code of Conduct that sets out the behaviour required of its councillors. West Northamptonshire Council deals with complaints about our own councillors as well as parish and town councillors.

If you would like to make a complaint about the conduct of a West Northamptonshire Councillor or a parish or town councillor, please read the guidance below before you start. 

Who you can complain about

You can complain about a West Northamptonshire councillor or co-opted member as well as councillors who are members of parish and town councils in West Northamptonshire.

A co-opted member is a non-elected member of a council or one of its committees who has been appointed to their position for their particular skills and experience rather than being elected.

Under this process we can only consider complaints about individual councillors or members. If you wish to complain about West Northamptonshire Council itself, its services, people employed by the Council or contractors, please refer to our complaints page.

What you can complain about

You can complain about a councillor breaking any part of their authority’s Code of Conduct when they are acting (or giving the impression they are acting) as a representative of their Council or while undertaking Council business.

West Northamptonshire Council’s Code of Conduct is set out in Part 8 of our Constitution. Parish and Town Councils can determine their own code. If you wish to obtain a copy, you will need to contact the relevant Town or Parish Council.

Before you start

You must complete the online form below with all the information you wish to be considered. Before you submit your complaint, read everything over and make sure it addresses these points:

• Be specific about which part of the Code of Conduct you think the Councillor has breached.
• Be clear about the behaviour in question, such as where and when it happened, what was said, who was there and why it breached the Code of Conduct.
• Provide evidence which substantiates the allegation. Usually, we can only consider publicly available information, or direct evidence (such as email or screenshots) as part of our decision. If there are witnesses, ask them to write down their recollection and submit this with the complaint. You can submit additional evidence directly by emailing [email protected].

When you submit a complaint your name and complaint will be passed on to the councillor you have complained about. The Monitoring Officer can consider requests to remain anonymous in exceptional circumstances. You can request this on the complaint form.

Your complaint

We can only consider complaints about councillors when they are acting in their capacity as a councillor (as opposed to when they are going about their private life). This means that when a Councillor is not acting in their official capacity it is unlikely that the Council will have any authority to progress your complaint.

The law also affords more freedom to elected councillors in relation to political expression. This means that things said about contentious political issues must engage a higher threshold for the code of conduct to be breached. Sometimes residents complain about Councillors because they disagree with a decision or comment they made. Disagreeing with a Councillor does not mean they have breached their code of conduct.

It is important to note that we cannot usually accept complaints about behaviour or incidents that happened more than 6 months ago, or about a matter that has already been complained about and settled.

If this applies to your complaint, or if your complaint does not relate directly to an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct, it is probably not something we can deal with.

To find out if another organisation can help you, contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau, Law Centre or other advice centre.

Making a complaint

A complaint should be made in writing using our online form:

Any documents that support a complaint should accompany the form.

For more information about the investigation and hearings please view the Council's Code of Conduct Complaints, Investigation and Hearings procedure which can be found in Part 8.3 of the Constitution.

If you have any questions or need any help filling in this form, please email the Monitoring Officer at [email protected].

Last updated 30 September 2025