A TUV councillor has said that he believes he was the victim of an "orchestrated campaign" after the Local Government Commissioner for Standards dismissed multiple allegations of intimidation and harassment against him.
Belfast Live understands allegations that Cllr Clarke had breached the code of conduct for councillors were raised by two fellow councillors and a community group and centre around comments made during a telephone call, on social media, and in a media interview.
It is understood the Ombudsman dismissed one of the allegations against the Mid and East Antrim Councillor due to lack of evidence and dismissed two more for not satisfying the assessment criteria for investigation.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Councillor Clarke said that it was his view that the allegations were made in an attempt to force him from the council after he left the DUP last year.
"I feel that at the end of the day, it was an orchestrated campaign to basically force me to leave the council, but all it does is make me more determined to clear my name," he said.
"I have always maintained that the allegations were without merit, that they were vexation and were made to cause a point. But the problem is that it is very time-consuming and causes a lot of unnecessary stress. I have no problem holding my hands up if I have done something wrong, but I am not going to have people denigrate me and accuse me of things that I haven't done.
"On the one hand, it didn't surprise me as the allegations were made after I left the DUP which didn't end very nicely."
Cllr Clarke said that the process of the investigation took months to complete and described the complaints as "a waste of public money".
"Dealing this allegations like this takes up so much of your time between emails, attending meetings and preparing notes when what you should be doing is serving your constituents," he said.
"When you read these allegations it is clear that they are made out of spite and they're made out of bitterness for different reasons. It has been a real inconvenience and it takes up so much time and negative energy which actually what I should be doing is proactive work within the community.
"It won't deter me from staying until the next election in 2027. In fact, it emboldens me to stay on," he finished.
The DUP have been contacted for comment but a response has not been received at the time of publication.
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