The Government has promised to crack down on attacks against local politicians, after a plea from Newcastle’s former council leader to deal with the “rapidly escalating levels of abuse and intimidation”.
Lord Nick Forbes warned that a barrage of physical and online attacks were having “serious and detrimental effects” on whether councillors can serve their communities effectively or are even willing to stand for election in the first place.
The senior Labour figure highlighted two “absolutely shocking” recent cases from Tyneside during an address in Parliament last week.
In April, Newcastle Labour election candidate Stephen Barry-Stanners’ home was vandalised with graffiti reading “Peedo Scum” and “Peedo live here”.
And former Blakelaw councillor Juna Sathian’s family were left terrified when their home was pelted with eggs, in the days after she lost her seat at the May 7 elections.
Speaking in the House of Lords last week, Lord Forbes also pointed to severe incidents in which councillors had been seriously injured after violent assaults, had their car firebombed, and been sent death threats.
He said that the abuse disproportionately deterred women, younger people, ethnic minorities, LGBT candidates and those with caring responsibilities from entering local politics.
Pushing for protective measures
Lord Forbes, who led Newcastle City Council from 2011 to 2022, called on the Government to set up a “national councillor safety co-ordination unit” and issue new guidance to police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service that would “lower the practical threshold for action against intimidation around elections, so that swift and early intervention can prevent escalation”.
He also called for stronger online protections, enhanced security measures at public meetings, and confidential mental health and trauma support for councillors including a 24/7 helpline.
Lord Forbes said: “We need to act now to make policing consistent, online platforms accountable, public meetings safe and support for those affected accessible. Local democracy should be a calling, not a hazard. Let us make it safe to serve.”
Baroness Taylor, the Lords Minister for Housing and Local Government, described the examples of abuse given in the Parliamentary debate as “blood-curdling and chilling”.
She said the Government was reforming the local government standards and conduct framework, with the aim of strengthening ethical standards and ensuring that councils “ have the right levers to deal with misconduct swiftly, fairly and transparently”.
The former Stevenage Council leader said she had suffered constant social media abuse herself and that ministers were “committed to doing all we can to prevent abusive, intimidatory and threatening behaviours”.
Baroness Taylor added: “For democracy to thrive, we need to make sure that we attract the widest range of people to seek to serve their communities. They should be able to do so without fear of intimidation or abuse. This is a shared responsibility that we must all embrace.”
