A senior Harrogate Borough Council officer has been using an anonymous Twitter account to insult councillors and send abusive, obscene and misogynistic tweets.
@ChippyGlory is an account with 146 followers. We have established it is run by Steve Rogers, Harrogate Borough Council’s parking enforcement manager.
The Stray Ferret has been tracking the @ChippyGlory account for two years after being told from a source that it was run by a council manager.
Mr Rogers holds a senior position at the council yet his tweets are strongly in breach of the local authority’s own social media policy.
His most offensive tweets are often deleted soon after posting but we have recorded many of them.
In the following section, we have taken the decision to publish a small number of Mr Rogers’ tweets to demonstrate the nature of them. Please be aware the following content is offensive and explicit.
Offensive Tweets
Mr Rogers has published numerous offensive tweets about councillors from across the political spectrum.
Several of Mr Rogers’ tweets have been directed at the Liberal Democrat councillor for New Park, Matthew Webber.
Cllr Webber has given us his consent to show this tweet.
Cllr Webber said it was upsetting to see the tweet about him.
He told us:
“I’m offended and I will be contacting the chief executive asking for action to be taken. It brings disrepute to the council.”
Some of Mr Rogers’ most misogynistic and obscene tweets are targeted at Carrie Johnson, wife of the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Rogers has posted several sexist tweets about Harrogate Residents Association’s Anna McIntee, giving her the nickname ‘Barbie’.
Following the Sarah Everard case last year, Mr Rogers tweeted the following message to a serving police officer:
Attacking councillors:
Despite being a public servant employed by the council, Mr Rogers has frequently published tweets attacking or mocking councillors.
After a council planning committee meeting last year @ChippyGlory tweeted “It’s always great to see Tories kicking Tories” and following the recent council elections he referred to the Conservatives as “Tory scum”.
He recently tweeted about North Yorkshire County Council’s Conservative executive member for highways Cllr Keane Duncan.
Mr Rogers is responsible for parking enforcement which gives him an active role Harrogate. Yet as ChippyGlory he has posted derogatory tweets about many well known figures in the town such as former Christmas market organiser and rail campaigner, Brian Dunsby.
One person who did not want to be named, but had a high profile role in Harrogate and was the subject of Mr Rogers’ abusive tweets, has told the Stray Ferret of the hugely detrimental impact they had on their mental health.
Mr Rogers tweeted this in an exchange on pedestrianisation about William Woods, Robert Ogden and Bob Kennedy – all well known, long-standing independent retailers:
Council’s social media policy
As the anonymous ChippyGlory, Mr Rogers has had regular non-offensive exchanges with the council’s Twitter feed on various issues.
The Stray Ferret has obtained a copy of the council’s social media policy. It applies to all council employees using social media either in a business or personal capacity.
It says:
“Do not post anything (including text, photographs or videos) that your colleagues, councillors, customers, clients, business partners, suppliers, vendors or other stakeholders would find offensive, including discriminatory comments, insults or obscenity.”
It warns that any breach of the policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
Mr Rogers has said he is sorry for his actions. When contacted by the Stray Ferret he told us:
“I regret any offence that I may have caused. I would like to think I have moderated my persona over recent months.
“I apologise for my previous behaviour.”
We asked the council for a comment and if anyone knew that Mr Rogers was behind the ChippyGlory account.
A council spokesperson said;
“The council will consider any concerns in relation to the conduct of any of its officers and where appropriate investigate the matter in accordance with its policies and procedures.
“The council will not be commenting further at this time.”
Read More:
- Police say Harrogate town centre ‘is safe’ despite highest anti-social behaviour rate in county
- Man charged after Harrogate stabbing
