Dirty politics? Social media manager defends sharing private photographs of Gore mayor

An unrepentant social media manager has defended sharing private photographs of Gore mayor Ben Bell amid accusations of dirty politics.

Natasha Chadwick, who was paid $9200 by incumbent mayor Tracy Hicks to run his social media as part of his $14,000 campaign, shared the photos of Bell with media outlets after the election, saying “what he (Bell) does socially is absolutely the people’s business”.

Hicks yesterday said Chadwick approached him during his campaign about using the photos but he declined saying it was not his style.

However, he stood by Chadwick, who says she waited until after the election before sharing the pictures with media, calling her an “absolute professional” who was a pleasure to work with.

Yesterday, RNZ reported on allegations of dirty politics emerging from the mayoral race and rumours about Bell’s sexuality.

Bell said he had heard rumours about his sexuality toward the end of his campaign, but did not know where they had come from and could not say for sure whether it was a case of “dirty tactics” from Chadwick.

“Things get heated during a campaign, so that’s politics at the end of the day,” Bell said.

Either way, it was “water off a duck’s back”.

“It didn’t matter to me and the photo that she’s alleged to have ... is on my Instagram.

“I didn’t take it down. I have no intention of taking it down.

“People like to think what they like to think.

“I’m a public figure at the end of the day, so my life is pretty public these days,” he said.

He made his Instagram account private before his campaign to protect his friends’ privacy, he said.

In an email to councillor Bret Highsted, released to the Otago Daily Times, Bell addressed the issue, saying “unless you get directly from me, it’s simply rumours”.

Highsted replied saying he was not aware of any “explicit” photos of Bell being circulated.

“I have seen a relatively harmless photo of you being kissed on the cheek at what looks like a festival.

“My response ... is the next generation would think nothing of it,” Highsted said.

Chadwick, who lives in Tapanui, said she did not share the photos or rumours during the campaign, although she had tried to get the media to pick up on them after her contract with Hicks had ended.

She was unrepentant about spreading the photos.

“To me, if you’re going to run in a public office and you’re going to be in a public space I think you need to present authentically,” she said.

“If he wasn’t ashamed of anything he did, why did he go and hide all of that stuff? That was my question.”

Bell’s response is that he made his Instagram account private before his campaign to protect his friends’ privacy.

Former Gore Mayor Tracy Hicks. Photo / Supplied

Chadwick had suggested Hicks use the posts during the campaign.

“I thought it could have been an advantage, I’m not going to lie, but Tracy was not interested in playing that role and he would have been mortified if I had done anything about it during the campaign,” Chadwick said.

After the election was over and her contract was up and she could speak in her own capacity, she raised the posts with several media outlets, including the Otago Daily Times.

Hicks said he had been surprised when Chadwick brought up the pictures but he had not wanted to get into that type of campaigning.

“As far as I’m aware, they weren’t used,” Hicks said of the pictures.

While some people clearly knew about the rumours, they were never raised in a public way as far as he was aware.

He did not know who was spreading them.

“Some people see that as fair game, but I’m afraid it’s not in my gamebook,” Hicks said.

He said he was “not really” aware of her efforts to bring attention to the posts after the campaign.

Glenys Dickson said she was aware of the rumours during Bell’s campaign, but thought a person’s sexual preference had no relevance to being mayor and paid no attention to it.

“He’s elected to do a job and I think he’s doing a good job,” Dickson said.

Cr Joe Stringer, who ran with Bell on the Team Hokonui ticket, said he knew about the rumour but did not think councillors were behind it.

“I don’t think any of the councillors would’ve done anything like that ... I think it started in the general public,” he said.