He resigned as Council Leader on 25 November 2005 after being found to have breached the members' code of conduct, following the disclosure of correspondence with former Council media chief, Matt Finnegan, which appeared to show the two men seeking to pressure the departure of then Chief Executive, Sir David Henshaw. In 2009 he was present, as Lord Mayor, at a ceremony organised by Sons of Confederate Veterans, allegedly a Neo-Confederate organisation at Toxteth Park Cemetery rededicating the grave of Irvine Bulloch