Tories Criticised Over Neo Nazi Candidate Selection

Kemi Badenoch has been slammed after a former neo-Nazi was selected as a Tory council election candidate.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine is due to stand for election to Somerset Council, despite previously describing himself as a “nationalist, fascist, theorist and supporter of white rights”.

The row comes after Badenoch announced that former Tory MPs who back net zero will not be able to stand as candidates at the next election.

According to The Guardian, Bonehill-Paine was convicted in 2014 of malicious communications over an anti-Islam hoax that led to death threats against the owners of a pub in Leicester.

Bonehill-Paine – the creator of the online satirical publication the Crewkerne Gazette – was jailed for more than three years in 2015 after posting anti-semitic material online ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally.

The following year, he was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment of the Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger.

He was also the founder and leader of the far-right National British Resistance.

Despite that, the Conservatives chose him as a council candidate in Crewkerne South.

Defending the decision, Badenoch said “the Conservative Party believes in second chances”.

She added: “Joshua Bonehill-Paine is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on anti-semitism and on countering extremism.

“Yes, he is somebody who had been previously convicted for this, but he is someone has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew he had caused previously.”

Luciana Berger, who is now a Labour peer, hit out at the Tory leader and said she is “still haunted” by Bonehill-Paine’s actions.

She posted on X: “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.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Kemi Badenoch is selecting a former neo-Nazi who was convicted for harassing a Jewish MP, while boasting about kicking out moderate Tories who back net zero. It’s a total disgrace.

“This tells you everything you need to know about the modern Conservative Party. They haven’t just failed to learn the lessons of their worst ever defeat – under Kemi Badenoch they’re becoming more extreme and more out of touch with Britain.”

A spokesman for the Jewish Labour Movement said: “It is truly appalling that the Conservative Party has picked Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a council candidate. This is a former neo-Nazi who was sent to prison for racially abusing a Jewish politician.”

Karen Newman, vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “It beggars belief that any party would select as a candidate a multiply convicted felon and the founder of a far-right group called National British Resistance.

“We have contacted the Conservative Party to set out our concerns and call on them to rescind his selection and review their vetting processes.”

Lord Mann, the former Labour MP who is the government’s independent adviser on anti-semitism, posted on X:”This convicted criminal should have no platform from a Parliamentary Party.

“His anti-semitism is as extreme as anyone I have ever seen.”

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Kemi claims the Tories have changed and they will have a new generation of candidates – it’s now clear what calibre of candidates they will be.

“Kemi claims to support the fight against anti-semitism yet selects a convicted anti-semite Nazi as a candidate. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.”

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