Mayor-making decision delayed after whistleblower disputes councillor's integrity in Milton Keynes

Councillor Moriah Priestley has, for the past year, been MK Council's Cabinet member for economic growth and commercial partnership.

A Labour councillor for Central Milton Keynes ward, she was due to be sworn in as deputy mayor at last night's council ceremony.

The deputy mayorship is a crucial post as the candidate automatically becomes mayor of MK the following year.

Just a couple of hours before the ceremony, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus risk, the Conservatives dropped a bombshell that they had been contacted by a whistleblower who was making serious allegations about Cllr Priestley.

As a result, Labour and Lib Dems agreed to defer the deputy Mayorship until an investigation could take place.

The female whistleblower claims she gave Cllr Priestley £7,000 last November to help finance a new private business partnership agreed between them.

Intended to be run as an ecommerce venture, it involved buying baby clothes and toys from China and selling them on eBay and Amazon.

But the venture never began and after a few months the whistleblower, who is a member of the same Nigerian community as the councillor, asked for her investment back.

"The money was no longer there," Cllr Priestley told the Citizen.

"Most of it had gone on set up costs and getting the business process moving."

She finally paid back the £7K in full almost two weeks ago. But now the whistleblower has threatened to take her to court to claim interest and profit payments.

"There is no profit because the business never started," said Cllr Priestley, who runs her own business consultancy.

She added: "I didn't have the time to get it running. I had some very serious personal circumstances happen in my home. There was a lot of personal trauma and I had to spend all my time between council meetings with my three children.

"They are 14, 12 and a toddler. I had to look after them... there was no time for the business."

The whistleblower now claims she was the victim of a scam, but the councillor disputes this

"This woman is trying to assassinate my character... It is not a Christian thing to do," she said.

Cllr Priestley, who is a member of the New Life Church, is now hoping she can prove her innocence to fellow councillors and be made deputy mayor shortly in readiness for becoming Mayor in 2021.

"I want to be the city's first African woman mayor. I want to be a beacon of diversity, justice and fairness for Milton Keynes," she said.

"I know I am an outstanding citizen and I have nothing to hide. I have spent years helping people in the business community in MK and I have raised my children here. I know I can represent the city."

Labour's council leader Pete Marland said no formal complaint had been made to MK Council.