George Finch is facing a fresh code of conduct complaint after saying books containing what he called "contested gender ideology" should be removed from Warwickshire libraries. Warwickshire Pride filed the complaint after his comments on Monday, escalating a row over what children should be able to find on library shelves.

Finch said he had received complaints from a number of residents about transgender-related children's books in the county's libraries, and argued libraries should "not seek to embolden political ideologies" or have such material "taught to children as pure fact". He said in an interview with CWR that he was not referring to books about "people's sexuality" but to books featuring transgender issues.

The dispute now matters because Warwickshire has about 30 libraries, many of them community-run, and any shift in what can be stocked or promoted would ripple through local services far beyond a single council chamber. Finch's remarks have made the argument about library neutrality unavoidable: he says children's material should not push a view he sees as political, while Warwickshire Pride says acknowledging LGBTQ+ people does not break neutrality.

Warwickshire Pride said the comments risked leaving LGBT+ people "further marginalised" and warned that "the suggestion that books or resources acknowledging LGBTQ+ people somehow undermine neutrality is both misleading and dangerous,". The group is not only objecting to Finch's language but to the idea that transgender-related books should be treated differently from other children's material, a line that has sharpened the clash between councillors and campaigners.

Reform councillor Mike Bannister said there was "no indication whatsoever" that staff had promoted specific literature and said any new policy would be "fully discussed" with the libraries team. But Finch's latest complaint lands after an independent investigation already found he breached the code of conduct over public comments that could have jeopardised a child rape case, and other complaints about his portrayal of political rival councillor Jan Matecki as a burglar on social media are still under investigation.

The unanswered question is a practical one: which titles or library materials Finch was referring to, and how far the council will go if pressure from residents turns into policy. For now, the complaint puts him back in the dock over conduct, while the wider fight over children's books in Warwickshire's libraries is only getting started.