Britain’s first ever eastern European mayor has been suspended from the Conservative Party after being charged with raping a woman.
Aigars Balsevics, 41, appeared before magistrates in Peterborough today accused of raping a woman in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in May last year.
He spoke to confirm his name, age and address during the five-minute hearing.
The former Wisbech mayor was suspended from the party yesterday after details of the allegation became known to its members, reports The Wisbech Standard.
Aigars Balsevics (arriving at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court), 41, appeared before magistrates in Peterborough today accused of raping a woman in Wisbech in May last year
The case was adjourned and Balsevics was remanded on bail to appear before Cambridge Crown Court on February 11.
An emergency meeting of the North East Cambs Conservative Association (NECCA), was arranged by its chairman, councillor Jan French, on Thursday.
Cllr French said the suspension was with immediate effect and will remain in force until the end of proceedings.
She added: ‘It would be wrong to comment any further at this stage.’
The former Wisbech mayor (pictured above) was suspended from the Conservative Party yesterday after details of the allegation became known to its members
Balsevics remains a councillor but is now an independent.
Born in Latvia, he moved to the UK in 2003 and became a town councillor 13 years later, in 2016.
Balsevics became Conservative mayor of Wisbech when he was made chairman of the town council in May 2020.
He runs three pubs in Wisbech but was stripped of his licence in 2021 after breaking Covid regulations by allowing customers to hug and kiss on Christmas Eve in 2020.
Source: Daily Mail
