It’s all Winston Churchill’s fault, apparently. A councillor in North Yorkshire has blamed a trick used by the former prime minister for an embarrassing gaffe caught on tape.
Linda Cowling, the leader of Ryedale district council, was heard telling a colleague: “Just imagine him with no clothes on”, as votes were being cast at a planning meeting last month.
Her words could be heard on a recording of the meeting on the council’s website until it was removed.
After Cowling was heard whispering the advice on the recording, another female voice replied: “Oh God, I would rather not.”
The Conservative council leader denied she was referring to fellow councillor Eric Hope and said she was trying to calm the nerves of Janet Frank, another councillor.
“Many years ago some of us underwent training on public speaking,” Cowling said. “We were told that if we were very nervous that a trick was to imagine your audience with no clothes on – a tip attributed to Winston Churchill.
“I used that advice to try to calm a colleague, councillor Janet Frank, who was deputising for the chairman of planning committee, who was very nervous about speaking that night. I was not referring to councillor Eric Hope.”
Cowling apologised for any embarrassment the incident had caused Hope.
The council issued a picture in which the three councillors, as well as Hope’s wife Daphne, were all smiles following the publicity generated by the story.
Cowling said it was appalling that a few words could be turned into a “story containing so much innuendo” by a local journalist.
However, the Gazette & Herald newspaper reported other Ryedale councillors said that Cowling – who runs a tea shop in Pickering – had been referring to councillor John Clark.
Clark, a farmer who is also a North Yorkshire county councillor, told the paper: “I am not to be treated as a sex object, despite my looks and physique.”
He added: “Both [Cowling and Frank] should consider their positions.”