Exclusive: Aberdeenshire council leader Gillian Owen brands fellow Tory councillors f***ing b*****ds in sweary text rant

Press and Journal

02-05-2025

Aberdeenshire Council leader Gillian Owen has apologised after branding fellow Conservative councillors 'f***ing b*****ds' in leaked WhatsApp messages.
The veteran councillor – who pledged to bring 'harmony' when she was named Tory group leader two years ago – is expected to face a backlash at the Aberdeenshire Conservative AGM this weekend.
Her 'upsetting' messages in the WhatsApp group chat were revealed as she prepares to seek another year in charge of the Tory group, and therefore leader of the council.
A source told The Press and Journal they were 'disgusted' by the comments and said there was growing feeling within the Tory group that 'Gillian cannot continue as leader'.
The WhatsApp messages are the latest twist in a months-long row over the continued role of independent councillor and Reform Party member John Cox within the Tory-led administration.
It's understood senior north-east Tories are pressuring for his expulsion and the group had agreed Mr Cox's position could be discussed – but would not be voted on – at the regular Monday meeting of the administration.
However the WhatApp messages reveal that position changed during the meeting.
Just before 6.10pm on Monday, Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside councillor Sarah Brown told the group chat: 'I was shocked when a vote was proposed as the group explicitly agreed there would not be a vote today.
'If we're talking about respect this was difficult.'
Gillian Owen agreed she was 'taken aback, too'.
'We agreed at our group no votes. F***ing b*****ds threw me under the bus.
'Yes, as you can all imagine I'm not happy and apologies for my language.'
Quickly asked to clarify if she'd called her own Conservative councillors 'funking (sic) b*****ds', she replied: 'Yes I did and I shouldn't have, but but ….'
The P&J put the comments to Ms Owen for response and she said: 'I apologise for using unprofessional language in a group chat, which I regretted immediately and deleted.'
A Tory party source said: 'Clearly this has upset quite a number in the group.'
'And it must be said that many will have been Gillian supporters when she took the leadership two years ago.
'The group is in turmoil anyway, with Reform sitting in administration with us… I've had a lot of calls and texts about that.
'There's definitely a growing feeling Gillian cannot continue as leader – and people are probably going to be quite vociferous off the back of the messages.
'We all say things we probably shouldn't, especially in texts – but we might think better than to send them to a group chat with some of the people we're talking about in it too.
Though we understand no one has declared a challenge to Ms Owen's leadership as of publishing, the party source tells us they still expect the current leader to struggle for re-election amid the tumultuous civil war on John Cox.
Our source added: 'Normally when we form a group position – and given this one was so decisive – we would all take that position in administration meetings.
'We outnumber the Lib Dems and administration independents so we would have won the vote if we all did that.
'So the question is, does Gillian Owen even want to remove John Cox? It's been raised many, many times since January.
'Five months later, we have not been able to resolve that – and that's not on the other admin groups, it's down to the internal machinations of our own.'
Meanwhile, the man at the heart of the Conservative in-fighting has been left stumped by his importance as 'one man among 70 councillors'.
'I know there was something discussed on Monday but I wasn't present,' John Cox said, explaining he was at the funeral of a constituent.
'I joined the Reform Party when it changed from the Brexit Party, and I stood for them a couple of years ago,' he said.
'There's memorandum of understanding between three groups – the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independents – who formed the administration, and I've stayed as an independent.
'I haven't got much that I can say or do, I haven't formed a Reform group and national politics shouldn't be affecting Aberdeenshire Council.
'We have major issues we should be addressing like our budget, the economy, education, care in the community; and that's quite enough to take up our time and attention.'