The head of communications at Shropshire County Council has been suspended from his job pending an investigation for trying to cheat a BBC poll.
The county council is trying to promote the establishment of a unitary authority covering the whole county of Shropshire (excluding Telford & Wrekin) – regionalisation by another name – but has been faced with overwhelming opposition from the outset from both members of the public and some district councils in the county.
The BBC had a poll on their website asking if Shropshire should get a unitary authority following a BBC Politics Show on the subject last Sunday. Paul Masterman, the head of communications at Shropshire County Council, decided to send an email to all employees telling them how to cheat the poll so they could vote more than once.
The email was leaked to the BBC, the poll was closed and Mr Masterman has been suspended. The best bit of it is, though, despite the cheating by the council the poll still showed only 32% support for the proposals!
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