Paine selected as Tory candidate
The Conservative Party in the UK has selected Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a man with a history of neo-Nazi activism and criminal convictions, as a council candidate. Party leadership defends the decision as an example of offering a 'second chance,' while critics and Jewish advocacy groups have condemned the selection.
Why it matters
The controversy highlights the tension between political rehabilitation policies and the public's expectations for the moral character of elected officials.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Chris Lockyer Somerset Contributed Joshua Bonehill-Paine now speaks out against extremism A man who was jailed over his neo-Nazi activism will stand as a Tory candidate in council elections after being offered a "second chance" by the party.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine spent three years in prison for posting antisemitic material ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally and a year later he was also convicted of racially harassing then-Labour MP Luciana Berger.
Bonehill-Paine has been selected to stand in the new Somerset Council seat of Crewkerne South in 2027. He said he wanted to "give back" to a community which had supported him.
Reacting to the news on X, Berger said: "This case still haunts me."
"I feel a bit sick reading well known commentators debate his selection today and say that 'these are precisely the people we need in public office'.
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