Scottish Mayor Resigns After Being Banned From Each of Town's 36 Pubs
That stately looking fellow above is Wayne Ronayne, former mayor of Gosport, Scotland. Yesterday, he stepped down from the position after he and his wife were banned from every single one of the town's 36 pubs. Ronayne held the mayoralty for just 40 days before his resignation.
On June 4, the mayor and his partner Paula Carter went out drinking to celebrate his first day in office. The police were called on the pair at some point during the revelry, and two Gosport bars refused their entry. From the Daily Express:
Stephen Brown, the duty manager at Nelsons, said: "Ms Carter said to me 'do you know who I am?'
"I said 'no, I don't', and she said 'I'm the mayoress of Gosport, I can have you closed down'.
"I politely said she still wouldn't be coming in, she was clearly drunk and then continued to be rude and had to be dragged away."
Nelsons owner Arthur Caraccio added: "We expect better behaviour than this."
Unfortunately for us, the mayor did not stop by each of the pubs in full old-timey regalia and drunkenly hurl pithy insults every last barkeep in Gosport. After the incidents at Nelsons and The Star, another bar, the local Pub Watch — a kind of governing body for drinking establishments — issued a town-wide ban. Ronayne got six months; Carter a year.
The mayor stepped down from what is apparently a ceremonial position without admitting he'd done anything wrong.
Ronayne said: "My decision is not based on any admission of wrongdoing or my inability to undertake the role.
"It is based on the now-damaging public perception of me that has been vigorously generated by certain members of our community.
"I do not wish to bring the position of the mayoralty into disrepute nor tarnish the good reputation of Gosport."
Ronayne will keep his seat on Gosport's town council.
