Former neo-Nazi withdraws as Tory candidate regardless of Kemi Badenoch backing him
Joshua Bonehill-Paine has announced he no longer intends to stand for a seat on Somerset Council, despite getting the backing of Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch
Joshua Bonehill-Paine had been set to stand as a Tory on Somerset Council next year(Image: Channel 4 News/Youtube)
A former neo-Nazi activist who was jailed for racially harassing an ex-Labour MP has stepped down as a Tory candidate.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who was found guilty in 2016 of launching an antisemitic attack on Labour peer Luciana Berger, who is Jewish, has announced he no longer intends to stand for a seat on Somerset Council. But he revealed he had been offered a new role by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Mrs Badenoch faced a backlash after defending his selection. Baroness Berger – who gave evidence in the trial when she was six months pregnant – described his offences as “deeply anti-Semitic, racist, misogynistic, pornographic”. She said the case still “haunts” her and warned he should not “have any role in public life”.
Ms Badenoch this morning defended the decision, arguing that Bonehill-Paine had been rehabilitated and now worked to tackle racism and antisemitism.
In a statement Mr Bonehill-Paine wrote: “The last 24 hours have shown that a lot of people do not understand how terrible I feel about the things I did when I was much younger.
” I know that my previous actions continue to cause pain in the Jewish community. I had thought that getting involved in my local council and working hard for my community was a good way to show how much I have changed and that I want to give something back.”
He went on: “Rather than standing as a local council candidate, I believe that my experience is better used supporting Kemi Badenoch in her ongoing mission to combat the antisemitism and extremism that is dividing our nation. I have therefore informed the Party of my decision to withdraw from next year’s council election and Kemi has instead offered that I become an adviser to the Conservative Party’s Culture and Integration Commission, specifically focusing on how young men become radicalised.”
Baroness Berger told the Tory leader she had “got this very, very wrong”. “This case still haunts me,” she wrote in a post on X on Tuesday night. “I feel a bit sick reading well-known commentators debate his selection today and say that ‘these are precisely the people we need in public office’.
“For the avoidance of doubt I don’t believe this man should have any role in public life – because of both his racism and his view of women. Kemi Badenoch you’ve got this very, very wrong.”
Bonehill-Paine was convicted of racially harassing Baroness Berger after publishing five disturbing hate-filled blog posts about her, in which described the then-MP for Liverpool Waverley as “a dominatrix” and “a rodent”. He also said she was “an evil money-grabber” with a “deep-rooted hatred of men”.
He was jailed in 2016 for two years, and the judge imposed a criminal behaviour order which allowed police to monitor his internet activity for five years after his release. Bonehill-Paine has responded by saying he now works to combat antisemitism and extremism.
Baroness Berger said: “I was six months pregnant when I had to give evidence at the Old Bailey for this case. It was two days of hell.”
On Wednesday morning, she added that he falls “very, very short” of the bar for public office. “There’s a big difference between going back into society and teaching others possibly about what you did and why it was wrong, to making the leap to standing for public office,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I think there’s a massive distinction there. And this is not just one-off hurty words. This is a man that engaged and indulged in a sustained campaign, not just against me, but about many others. This man has a record of offences, including public order offences, things that he committed, not just against me as a Jewish woman, that were deeply anti-Semitic, racist, misogynistic, pornographic, but also extended it to other communities, including the Muslim community.
“And I think that we need to have a bar when it comes to standing for public office, and I strongly believe today that this individual falls very, very short of that.”
