The leader of the opposition Conservative Party of Great Britain on Wednesday defended the decision to nominate a former neo-Nazi, who served a sentence for hate crimes, as a candidate in local elections. According to her, he has been rehabilitated and can now help combat anti-Semitism.
The individual in question is Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who was convicted in 2015 for racially motivated harassment of Luciana Berger, who was then a member of parliament from the Labour Party. He also served time for inciting hatred against the Jewish community in north London. His nomination as a candidate for the Somerset County Council in southwest England has drawn criticism from other political parties and Jewish organizations.
Position of the Conservative leader
The party leader Kemi Badenoch stated that the actions of Bonehill-Paine were “horrible”, but he has renounced his former views and can run for the local council, which deals with issues such as “parking and waste collection”. In an interview with BBC, she emphasized that this is “not a national political position”, and that Bonehill-Paine himself “fully repented”, mentioning his participation in the government’s anti-radicalization program Prevent. Badenoch also stated that she aims to form a broad movement against anti-Semitism in Great Britain.
The issue of anti-Semitism in Great Britain has remained relevant for many years, and various political parties have repeatedly had to withdraw candidates or expel their members. In particular, a candidate for the parliament of Wales from the right-wing populist party Reform UK resigned after a photo of him with a Nazi salute surfaced. The Green Party also suspended several candidates accused of anti-Semitism ahead of the local elections in May. The Labour Party, while in opposition, failed to properly address anti-Semitism complaints in 2020, according to the British equality body. In 2023, this body reported that the party had taken sufficient measures to rectify the situation.
Badenoch also partially justified the nomination of Bonehill-Paine, noting that the Labour Party had also nominated a former neo-Nazi as a candidate in local elections in 2012.
Representative Jewish organizations Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council refused to meet with Bonehill-Paine and called on the Conservative Party to cancel his nomination.
Luciana Berger, who is now a member of the House of Lords, stated on BBC that there is a “huge difference” between Bonehill-Paine telling others about the wrongness of his former views and him running for an elected position. According to her, this is “not about isolated offensive statements”, but about “a person who for years participated in a campaign of persecution not only against me but also against many others”.
Source: The Straits Times
