The leader of Warwickshire County Council is facing fresh code of conduct accusations after taking responsibility for creating and publishing an image of a political rival in a burglar's outfit.

Social media platforms for the ruling Reform UK group at Warwickshire County Council put out the mock-up of ex-portfolio holder for transport and planning Cllr Jan Matecki on Thursday, January 8. 

It claimed Cllr Matecki's "mismanagement stole Warwickshire's economic future", referencing a rise in home-to-school transport costs while he was in charge.

They were shared by leader Cllr George Finch on his own pages alongside the comment 'As we say at County Hall, if you leave it to Jan it'll hit the fan'.

When approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Matecki confirmed he had raised the post, published on X and Facebook, with monitoring officer Sarah Duxbury, Warwickshire's County Council's most senior legal official and the arbiter of complaints against elected officials, requesting that posts be taken down and for Cllr Finch to apologise.

The post soon disappeared but Cllr Finch was adamant he had not been made aware of any issues and that it had been deleted having "reached its potential and did what it needed to do". 

It follows on from the council appointing an external solicitor to investigate complaints related to Cllr Finch's public comments about a child rape case.

The social media post which has been reported

Hitting back

Cllr Matecki, who oversaw transport and planning until the Tories got ousted from power in May 2025, argued the post "breached the code of conduct and expectations of councillors".

"I have made the council aware that it is unacceptable behaviour and that it has crossed a line," he said. 

"It is also defamatory but at this time I'm raising it as a code of conduct matter.

"All councillors need to follow the code of conduct and that includes the leader. This is not acceptable behaviour and it is a distraction from the real issues that people care about."

That followed his own social media response in which he said: "When the facts don't fit, some resort to misinformation, Photoshop and emojis."

"Mainstream transport remained broadly static under my watch," he added.

"The pressure is on statutory SEND provision, where the law requires us to ensure eligible children get to school safely.

"Even Councillor Finch has said he will protect SEND provision because these are vulnerable children who deserve support, not cuts. This will drive costs higher still."

"Warwickshire deserves serious debate, not childish stunts," he added.

"If your argument relies on misinformation, fake images and toilet humour, it says more about your politics than my record."

Finch doubles down

Approached on Monday morning, Cllr Finch said he had not been made aware of Cllr Matecki's ire or heard from Ms Duxbury, dismissing the post as "a joke".

"It reached its potential and did what it needed to do, it showed the public that Jan as portfolio holder for transport and planning completely failed," he said.

"The removal of the post was not because of him asking, I didn't see what he said. The people of Warwickshire will see what that post was meant to do. They saw it as a joke, quite comedic."

Cllr Finch also referred to the home-to-school transport bill going up from £17 million to £50 million "on his watch", describing that as "completely unacceptable", but the numbers have been disputed – Cllr Matecki told council in December that he joined the budget was £39.5 million when he took the post in May 2023 with rises since "all down to SEN provision".

"I put the brakes on," he said. "We put things in place to prevent it from going higher."

Cllr Finch also claimed it was a case of double standards.

Cllr Jan Matecki oversaw transport and planning until the Tories got ousted from power in May 2025

In December, Cllr Matecki called on Cllr Finch to lead by example and walk a 10-mile round trip to Shire Hall himself after the leader asked the government for discretion to potentially extend the distances children travel to school without council help.

He suggested "a photo opportunity" with a "hi-vis jacket on, packed lunch and maybe even wearing a pair of wellies if it's raining". 

"If it's good enough for an eight-year-old, it should be good enough for the leader of this council," said Cllr Matecki.

"Jan is allowed to stand in the council chamber and make jokes about me regarding a very serious issue," said Cllr Finch. 

"It is one rule for him, one for others. (When) you're playing a game like he is trying to, I am not biting. 

"I am running this council. We are working hard, especially on the budget, and we put a post out like that.

"My time doesn't need to be wasted by Cllr Matecki. I think the people of Warwickshire have had their time wasted by his terrible record as portfolio holder."

Put to him that it may look like he was 'biting', Cllr Finch said: "People see it as a comedic joke that highlights his failure on home-to-school transport."

He added that "there is nothing to apologise for" but stopped short of ruling out a sorry. 

"I believe I don't need to but if he makes a complaint to the council there are procedures for that to happen," said Cllr Finch.

Leader 'created and posted' the image

Social media platforms representing the Reform UK group at Warwickshire County Council appeared in late October at a similar time to the appointment of the party's political assistant Jack Parker.

The biggest three parties by seat count – Reform, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – all have one since Cllr Finch reintroduced the roles that had previously been scrapped. 

They are dedicated council officers who "undertake research and provide administrative support to members of political groups in the discharge of any of their (council) functions".

Like all council employees, they are politically restricted but they do have extra discretion to "speak to the public with the intention of affecting support for a political party" and publish "work or other material intended to affect public support for a political party". They cannot give the impression they represent that party.

Cllr Finch acknowledged when asked that Mr Parker "does post on that Facebook page" but insisted that was not the case on this occasion.

He said "I take responsibility" for the content. Asked whether he had personally created and posted the image, Cllr Finch said: "I created it."

Asked to clarify whether he had also posted it, Cllr Finch said: "I created and posted it, yeah."