Former council leader caught up in WhatsApp scandal apologises

Almost one year on from the WhatsApp scandal that rocked Greater Manchester, one politician caught in the middle of it has finally spoken out.

Cllr Brenda Warrington is set to be thrust back under the microscope again next week for her participation in the infamous ‘Trigger Me Timbers’ WhatsApp group.

The group was made up of Labour councillors, members and activists from Denton and Reddish, as well as MPs Andrew Gwynne and Oliver Ryan. The group chat contained a number of offensive messages and resulted in the suspension of a string of politicians.

A standards committee hearing is set to be held next week for six Tameside councillors involved in the group, who are alleged to have broken the council’s code of conduct. The complainants, who include Phil Foster, Cllr Kallel Khan and Gary Clarke, all make reference to messages in the chat which include ‘racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, hate speech and even threats of violence towards constituents including death’.

In addition to Cllr Warrington, the report from independent investigator Linda Comstive found evidence of breaches by councillors Allison Gwynne, Jack Naylor, George Newton and George Jones, as well as former councillor Claire Reid.

Ahead of the standards hearing next week, Cllr Warrington said: “This will actually be the first opportunity that I, and others have had to make any kind of statement. We were instructed both by the Labour Party and by the monitoring officer at Tameside council that during the course of the investigations we must not engage in any exchanges with press or social media and we must keep any and all correspondence confidential.

“I have honoured that instruction. Myself and others have had to endure twelve months of abuse, lies and misinformation particularly through various social media platforms and in particular by certain individuals, without being able to respond.

“I decided that I would continue to fulfil my role as an elected member despite the abuse, and have done so. I have therefore had no opportunity to publicly apologise and would now like to offer a sincere apology to anyone who genuinely feels offended, hurt or upset by any comment that I have made in the private chat.

“It was never the intention that people be offended, hurt or upset. I do have a range of questions that I will be seeking to raise at the hearing of the Standards Sub Committee which will include the scope of the investigation, the process and also the cost, and so at this stage I do not wish to comment further until the hearing.

“Again, can I apologise for any offence, hurt or upset caused by any comment that I have made in the private chat.”

Cllr Warrington was leader of Tameside council between 2018 and 2022, when the WhatsApp group was active. During an interview with investigator  Ms Comstive, the ex-leader confirmed she was an active participant of the Trigger Me Timbers group, using her council-owned phone to do so.

According to the investigation report, Cllr Warrington provided 1,570 lines of chat in the WhatsApp group. This included jibes comparing unnamed members of the Labour group to serial killers Fred and Rose West.

Speaking about the same pair of her fellow Labour members, the report found she said in the chat, “look forward to being a fully-fledged member of the ‘we hate *** and *** Club’”. In response, Cllr Warrington told Ms Comstive these were ‘tongue in cheek comments’.

The report went on to read: “When Cllr Brenda Warrington was interviewed by the investigator on May 28, 2025, she could not recall anything about being on the Standards Committee of the GMCA.”

This comes despite her being on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority standards committee for just over three years, during her time as Tameside council leader. The point made by the investigator is that being a member of the standards committee means she should be aware of how to uphold the council’s code of conduct.

Although reiterating the Trigger Me Timbers group was a private chat, Cllr Warrington apologised for any offence caused. 

Ms Comstive’s 94-page report details the complaints, extracts from the WhatsApp chat, responses from interviews with four out of six of the councillors and her findings. The evidence will be discussed at the Standards Sub Committee meeting on Monday, February 2 in Dukinfield Town Hall. 

The committee will consider the evidence, confirm whether they find any breaches of the code and take actions against those who breached the code, if necessary.

Brenda Warrington, George Newton and George Jones all complied with the investigation and were interviewed by Ms Comstive. A whistleblower, who remained anonymous in the report, was also interviewed.

Claire Reid, who resigned as a councillor in December, responded to the questions via email. Allison Gwynne, the wife of outgoing Gorton and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne, did not engage with the process and Jack Naylor did not turn up to his interview with the independent investigator.