A former Conservative councillor has been jailed for 20 weeks for stalking former Tory leadership candidate Dame Penny Mordaunt and breaches of a stalking protection order.
Edward Brandt, 61, became ‘fixated’ on starting an intimate relationship with the former Tory minister, who said she was left fearing ‘sexual violence’.
Brandt bombarded Dame Penny with emails and voicemails and even tried to jump the security barrier at her office.
The ex-House of Commons leader, 52, cried as she told a court she feared for her own safety as a result of ‘creepy’ Brandt’s persistent behaviour.
Sentencing the divorced father-of-two Brandt, Judge William Mousley KC told him: ‘Any reasonable person would have known your behaviour amounted to harassment.
‘Dame Penny Mordaunt was the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North, you were living on the Isle of Wight and were not one of her constituents.
‘As an MP, she was vulnerable as she would make herself available to meet members of the public.
‘There have been before and since incidents where MPs have been attacked or worse.’
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Dame Penny, a former defence secretary and minister for women and equalities, said she had been ‘living in fear’ causing her to increase security at her office and at home, changing her routine.
Edward Brandt, 61, was convicted at Southampton Crown Court but cleared of stalking involving serious alarm or distress
The former Defence Secretary, 52, told a jury that Brandt’s behaviour left her ‘feeling very vulnerable’
She was also given the protection of a plain-clothes policeman to ‘shadow’ her at a carol service where she was the special guest.
She said: ‘I am completely exhausted due to the stress, every time I step out of the building I am looking over my shoulder and checking to see if he is there.
‘I am living in a constant fear of a confrontation.’
She continued: ‘It’s hugely impacted all aspects of my life, both my professional life and personal life, and I cannot stress enough how much I am exhausted by it.’
She said: ‘The nature of these messages and his actions have led me to conclude his intentions are much more serious and he is unlikely to be deterred.
‘He has caused me huge anxiety and distress.’
Dame Penny added that if he were to contact her home, she would have to move address and said: ‘It makes me so angry that I may have to move from my home city because this man is not capable of understanding the word no.
‘Going through this has been hell.’
Dame Penny was MP for Portsmouth North between 2010 and 2024 and served as leader of the House of Commons in the final two years. She lost her seat to Amanda Martin in 2024.
The trial heard that Brandt, who lived on the Isle of Wight at the time, failed to comply with a verbal warning by police as well as the terms of a conditional caution issued in April 2024 which required him to complete a victim awareness course and not to contact Dame Penny.
Brandt, who now lives in Lymington, Hampshire, then left two voicemail messages for her on May 6 and 10 and in one of the messages, he said: ‘I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up.’
The court heard that Brandt had two previous drink-driving convictions and an offence of battery against a former partner.
The court also heard allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Brandt towards other women.
During the trial Dame Penny told jurors she had to get colleagues to walk her to and from her car, change her office security and stop using public transport.
Brandt claimed he was not going to commit ‘sexual violence’ and his only interest in Mordaunt was ‘purely political and congratulatory’.
Dame Penny told Southampton Crown Court she became ‘increasingly concerned’ about Brandt’s behaviour
Brandt, , who worked as a professional sailor, was accused of ignoring a police warning and continuing to stalk Ms Mordaunt, claiming he wanted to have a ‘much-famed pint’ with her.
Prosecutors said the defendant also claimed he wanted to shake her ‘precious and gold-plated hand’ to praise her for her work.
Brandt jumped the barrier at her office and Mordaunt had to bolster her security, it was also heard.
In November, a jury at Southampton Crown Court returned a guilty verdict for stalking by a majority of 10 to two after four hours of deliberation.
But Brandt – who sobbed as the verdict was read out – was acquitted of a more serious charge of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
Dame Penny said in evidence: ‘It is clear that this is not a normal pattern of behaviour and it is obsessive. I became increasingly concerned about his behaviour in the wake of his visit to my office.
‘I found them obsessive and creepy. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a potential danger to me.
‘It was clear to me that his motivation was not just to get an autograph or shake my hand. There were no threats of violence but his actions and messages to me were disturbing. The legacy of what he did was very profound.’
Prosecutor Robert Bryan told jurors Brandt started callilng and emailing the then MPs office in autumn of 2023.
The court heard he quizzed the office manager about Dame Penny’s security arrangements within the constituency and ‘emailed Mordaunt several times over the coming months asking to meet up’.
The court heard he sent her messages for Christmas, New Year and her birthday on March 4, and in November 2023 he sent her a message relating to diver Tom Daley – with whom Mordaunt had appeared on television show Splash!
Mr Bryan continued: ‘On December 16 he went to her constituency office – which is caught on CCTV – but what he did next was not.
‘He went to the end of the building where the turnstiles were and tried to jump the barriers – which triggered the alarms.
‘Security rushed after him and asked him questions about what he was doing. This marked an escalation. She was in her office and was escorted back to her car.’
Brandt was also sentenced for seven breaches in December 2025 of a stalking protection order in place until November 2034 by failing to notify police of devices capable of connecting to the internet and of the creation of accounts on Facebook and Snapchat.
He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for the stalking offence and eight weeks to serve consecutively for the breaches.