Former neo-Nazi activist withdraws as Tory local election candidate after backlash

A former far-right activist, who has a string of convictions including harassing a Jewish MP, has stood down as a Conservative candidate in upcoming local elections after backlash.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine said he acknowledged that “my previous actions continue to cause pain in the Jewish community”.

He said “if I stand as a council candidate, other political parties will spend all their time focusing on my past rather than the work I’m doing today, or even fighting antisemitism in their own midst.

“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.”

Earlier, he had said he was “tremendously proud” to have been selected by the party to stand as a candidate for Crewkerne South in next year’s Somerset Council elections.

Mr Bonehill-Paine, who now runs a political satire account on social media posting AI videos, is a former neo-Nazi activist who has several convictions, including posting anti-Semitic material ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally.

In 2016 he was found guilty of harassing former MP Luciana Berger in a string of anti-Jewish rants, posting articles online calling her a “dominatrix” and “an evil money-grabber” with a “deep-rooted hatred of men”.

He was previously jailed for producing an advert for a neo-Nazi rally illustrated with a picture of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz which promised “an absolute gas”.

Since then he has apologised for his past offending, and says he is dedicated to “challenging the wave of hatred British Jews continue to face”.

Hours before he stood down, Jewish leaders rejected Ms Badenoch’s offer of a meeting with him from as she defended his selection as a council candidate.

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