Labour's chief whip Councillor Alan Dean has been accused of being the “Malcolm Tucker of local politics” after it was revealed he left an “abusive” voicemail for Liverpool’s youngest councillor.
Cllr Dean faced being compared to Peter Capaldi's formidable character in the TV political comedy, The Thick of It, after he left the furious message for Jake Morrison.
The angry voicemail was in response to the news that the young Labour councillor planned to step down at the next election – a move Cllr Dean branded a "stab in the back," in an interview with the Liverpool Echo.
Responding to the news of Cllr Morrison's impending resignation in the voicemail, Cllr Dean can be heard saying: “What the hell are you doing giving a story like that to the Echo.
"You have really p****d on your chips this time, mate."
Cllr Morrison was later suspended by the Labour party and announced in June he would quit to stand independently at the next General Election in 2015.
He told the Echo he had come to the decision to release the voicemail clip now because he believes something needs to be done about the "bullying".
"People don't know half the picture that went on in 2½ years and this is something I decided to do to quite clearly outline the way I was treated and something needs to be done about it.
“I just wanted to show people the way I was treated. It's aggressive, it's nasty, it was bullying as far as I'm concerned.
"He seems to think he's the Malcolm Tucker of local politics."
Speaking to the Echo, Cllr Dean said he did not deny sending the message or that he wished to retract anything he said in it.
“I was very angry at the time for what he had done and the way he behaved after all the support he got," he said.