Baroness Luciana Berger Urges Conservatives To Block Former Neo‑Nazi Candidate After Antisemitic Abuse Conviction

A former Labour MP, Baroness Luciana Berger, has called on the Conservative Party to prevent Joshua Bonehill‑Paine — a man with a past neo‑Nazi affiliation who was convicted for antisemitic abuse — from standing as a local election candidate.

Bonehill‑Paine was jailed in 2015 for posting antisemitic material ahead of a planned neo‑Nazi rally and was later convicted in 2016 of racially harassing Luciana Berger, who is Jewish. He served three years in prison for related offences.

The Conservatives have selected Bonehill‑Paine as their candidate for the Crewkerne South seat on the new Somerset Council at the 2027 local elections. Party leader Kemi Badenoch has defended the choice, saying she believes he has been rehabilitated and deserves a second chance.

Baroness Berger's Response

Baroness Berger told the BBC that Bonehill‑Paine ran a "sustained campaign" of harassment against her and that his record should disqualify him from public office. She described the volume and extremity of his online material as having "affected my life in lots of different ways" and said the content was "frankly... shocking and awful."

"I strongly believe that this individual today falls very, very short of that," Baroness Berger wrote, arguing that there must be a threshold for those seeking public office.

Baroness Berger also attended the trial at the Old Bailey and, in a Substack post, said Bonehill‑Paine showed "no contrition" during proceedings and at one point "performed a full Nazi salute to his supporters in the public gallery." The sentencing judge described the case as particularly severe, saying it was "difficult to envisage a worse case than this of racially aggravated harassment of this kind," and noted Bonehill‑Paine had "sat in the dock smirking throughout the trial."

Baroness Berger is a former Labour MP and shadow cabinet member [Getty Images]

Candidate's Account And Party Reaction

Bonehill‑Paine has called his past views "indefensible" and says he has since renounced antisemitism. In written posts and interviews he has described an "epiphany" while reading the Bible in a segregation cell and says he completed a de‑radicalisation programme after learning about the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016. He has also said he now delivers counter‑extremism sessions around the UK.

Kemi Badenoch acknowledged his crimes were "appalling" but argued that he served his sentence and has shown remorse and a commitment to tackling antisemitism. Badenoch framed the selection as a test of whether people who were once radicalised can be rehabilitated and return to public life.

Community Concerns And Wider Criticism

The Board of Deputies of British Jews called on the Conservatives to rescind Bonehill‑Paine's selection, describing the decision as one that "beggars belief." The party has reportedly offered to arrange a meeting between Bonehill‑Paine and representatives from the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, and the Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis to address concerns directly.

Bonehill‑Paine also has convictions for assaulting a police officer, burglary of a police station and malicious communications. He was selected on Tuesday to stand for the new Somerset Council seat of Crewkerne South in 2027 and said he wants to "give back" to the community that supported him after his release. He is also the founder of The Crewkerne Gazette, a satirical X page that has published AI deepfake videos of politicians.

The selection has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Liberal Democrat MP Adam Dance has demanded an explanation from the Conservative Party about the candidate's fitness to serve, while a Labour Party spokesperson called the decision "a total disgrace."