UK Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch has defended her party’s decision to allow Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a former neo-Nazi who was imprisoned for antisemitic harassment, to run in local elections in Somerset County, according to a report in
The Guardian.
Badenoch claimed that Bonehill-Paine has expressed remorse for his actions and that since his release from prison, he has been working against extremism.
According to the report, the former inmate lectures at schools and universities and even participates in training personnel for the Prevent program, which is designed to prevent radicalization.
She stated that a clear distinction must be made between running for a local position and candidacy for Parliament.
Badenoch said Bonehill-Paine is not being given a national platform, but is rather running for a local council seat that deals with topics such as parking and trash collection.
However, she clarified that her threshold for candidates seeking to run for the House of Commons is much higher.
Bonehill-Paine was sentenced in 2015 to over three years in prison after posting antisemitic content online ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally.
In 2016, he was also convicted of racially aggravated harassment against former Member of Parliament Luciana Berger, after publishing antisemitic and offensive messages targeting her.
Berger criticized the Conservative Party’s decision, stating that there is a fundamental difference between reintegrating into society after serving a sentence and running for public office.
She noted that she continues to cope with the deep impact of the harassment campaign conducted against her.