A candidate in the upcoming Cardiff Council election was criticised for lying, being 'unreliable' as a witness and for 'deceit' by Wales' standards commissioner. Plaid candidate Michael Deem, who used to work for former MS Neil McEvoy, was also found to have lied to the Senedd's member services.
In a recent press release Plaid Cymru described its member Michael Deem — a candidate in Radyr — as among those "leading the organising" for the Common Ground Alliance ahead of the May election. The alliance has seen Plaid and the Green Party field candidates on a joint manifesto.
Mr Deem was previously office manager for Neil McEvoy and was heavily criticised in a recent report into misuse of Senedd resources by the Senedd's standards commissioner. During his time working for the former Senedd member for South Wales Central, he was involved in deceptions which cost the taxpayer £3,450 as a "low-level estimate", according to the report. Mr McEvoy — whose role in the controversy was covered by WalesOnline here — is standing in Fairwater in next month's council election.
Read next: More than three quarters of people think Boris Johnson lied about Partygate
In the report released in February, commissioner Douglas Bain found Mr McEvoy delegated political work to staff employed by the Senedd and used public-funded electricity and equipment to print and fold thousands of party-political leaflets. He also used his taxpayer-funded office space for campaign group meetings and to interview people for a political role, the report found. He showed a "wilful and persistent disregard" of rules and a "lack of contrition", Mr Bain concluded.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint from Mr Deem, but the commissioner found he was not "an entirely reliable witness". He accepted Mr Deem's mitigation that it was his first job in politics and that he took his lead and instructions from Mr McEvoy. But the commissioner said that "while... the mitigation has some merit, it in no way excuses the conduct of Mr Deem".
As the office manager, Mr Deem had day-to-day responsibility for what took place at Mr McEvoy's regional office in Canton. According to the report, Mr Deem told lies about "a photocopier invoice and other matters" to the members' business support department of the Senedd. Mr Deem admitted this but said Mr McEvoy was also "involved in these deceits".
The report reads: "It was only some months after his sacking by [Mr McEvoy] and the failure of a mediation process that [Mr Deem] made his complaint. Had that mediation been successful I do not doubt that Mr Deem would have continued to acquiesce in the misuse of Assembly resources.
"I doubt Mr McEvoy’s view that the complaint was politically motivated as at the time it was made Mr Deem had withdrawn from politics. I am certain the complaint was not made for altruistic reasons and suspect that revenge was amongst Mr Deem’s motives."
The report found that Mr McEvoy was "party to a scheme devised by Mr Deem to mislead Assembly security staff by telling them that candidates attending to be interviewed for [a political post] were being interviewed for [an Assembly Members' Support Staff post]. That deceit was necessary because, as both Mr Deem and Mr McEvoy well knew, the use of a room at the Assembly to interview candidates for that party-paid post was a contravention of the Code and the Rules."
Mr Bain wrote there was an "abundance of evidence" that in the five months up to the 2017 General Election, Mr Deem spent "a significant proportion" of his time doing work of a party-political and election campaign nature — in a taxpayer-funded role.
The commissioner added: "Unlike Mr McEvoy, Mr Deem has now accepted full responsibility for what he described as his repeated and in some cases, flagrant, misuses of Assembly resources. By way of mitigation he pointed out that this was his first job in politics; that he took his lead on what was acceptable from Mr McEvoy; that he managed the regional office in accordance with Mr McEvoy’s instructions; and that when he raised his concerns with Mr McEvoy he was told that all Members used resources in the same way.
"Whilst I accept that this plea in mitigation has some merit it in no way excuses the conduct of Mr Deem far less that of Mr McEvoy. It was Mr Deem, albeit with Mr McEvoy’s knowledge and tacit support, who instructed to give a false account to Assembly security staff at the time of the interviews for the post."
The report concluded Mr McEvoy would have been excluded for two weeks if he had remained a Senedd Member. The politician, who left Plaid in acrimonious circumstances, was not re-elected to the Senedd despite standing in the 2021 election. He is leader of the Propel party.
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "Mr Deem gave a full account of events when he was an employee of Mr McEvoy’s to the standards commissioner. The commissioner found that Mr McEvoy had shown a wilful and persistent disregard of the provisions of election guidance, general election guidance and the code of conduct for Senedd Members. Michael Deem would be an excellent community champion for the residents of Radyr if elected on May 5."
Following the release of the report Mr McEvoy said: "The publication just before the council elections brings an end the planned complaints and stitch ups which began when I started asking questions the powerful did not want put. The standards process is rotten to the core, as my secret phone recordings proved. I actually listened to people discuss a lack of credible evidence and then talk about how officials were open to making sure my appeal was thrown out, before it was made. It is no coincidence that the main complainant now works for the Plaid Cymru member of the Senedd who replaced me. The Welsh Establishment got what they wanted for the time being: a compliant Welsh Parliament, which barely deserves the title. Propel is growing in strength and the future for real opposition in Welsh politics. Watch this space."
