DEVON and Cornwall Police have announced that no further action will be taken against a former member of Cornwall Council’s previous Conservative cabinet.

Louis Gardner, of Newquay, was previously found to have breached the local authority’s code of conduct on five points.

Mr Gardner, who was the council’s portfolio holder for the economy, did not declare an interest when approving a £200,000 grant from the council to Spaceport Cornwall despite accepting a new job at the space tech facility at Newquay airport days before.

A ‘misconduct in public office’ complaint against Mr Gardner was made to police by a member of the public and a referral was also made by Cornwall Council, but the Devon and Cornwall force said their investigation, which started in April, has now concluded. A spokesperson said: “No further police action will follow in relation to this report. The matter has now been filed and all relevant parties informed.”

Mr Gardner stepped down as Cabinet member for the economy on taking the Spaceport job and retired as a councillor on May 1, the day of the council election when the Tories lost their majority. Cornwall Council withdrew the £200,000 funding in April and Mr Gardner resigned from Spaceport Cornwall in May following the controversy.

An assessment of Mr Gardner’s behaviour was conducted by Cornwall Council assurance officer Simon Mansell following complaints from Matthew Stokes, the council’s head of legal and democratic services, and Independent councillor Julian German.

In his report, dated May 28, Mr Mansell found that Mr Gardner had breached the council’s code of conduct on five points. He said Mr Gardner had “failed to correctly register his disclosable pecuniary interest upon becoming an employee of Spaceport as is required by paragraph 3.8 of the code of conduct. The failure to register the interest may also be a failure to comply with the requirements of Section 30 of the Localism Act 2011 and this part of the complaint will be forwarded to the police to allow them to consider if an offence under Section 34 of the Localism Act has been committed.

“In failing to declare a non-registerable interest at the meeting of the Economic Prosperity Board on February 27, 2025, [Mr Gardner] has breached paragraph 3.5 of the Code in addition to 2.5, 2.10 and 2.11. However, whilst a breach of this nature would normally [result] in a recommendation of a censure, as the subject member is no longer a councillor no further action can be taken beyond the referral to the police.”

Mr Gardner apologised, saying he should have sought legal advice before the meeting where the £200,000 funding for the Spaceport was approved. He stated: “At the time of the meeting I weighed up everything and considered whether or not I had an interest. I made the personal decision that I did not based on the following:

“I had not started employment with Cornwall Airport Limited and therefore was not an employee. Whilst a formal offer had been made and accepted, I had not been given a contract, and it was by no means certain that this process would run to completion.

“The project was an existing and longstanding Cornwall Council project which was already fully endorsed by Cabinet in a formal Cornwall Council document. Although Spaceport was the applicant on the form, I thought I was merely endorsing a Cornwall Council project, like we had done multiple times before, through the entire three years of running the Shared Prosperity Fund.

“In hindsight, I would have sought legal advice from Cornwall Council legal team before the meeting.”