Tories offer Jewish groups meeting over ex-neo-Nazi candidate

The Conservative Party has offered Jewish groups a meeting with Joshua Bonehill-Paine after selecting the former neo-Nazi activist as a candidate for a new Somerset Council seat. The decision has triggered sharp criticism from Jewish leaders and opposition politicians, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has defended the choice as an example of second chances.

Bonehill-Paine spent three years in prison for posting antisemitic material ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally. He was later convicted of racially harassing then-Labour MP Luciana Berger, and has other convictions including assaulting a police officer, burglary of a police station and malicious communications. His selection for Crewkerne South in 2027 has raised immediate concern because of that record and because the seat is part of a local election map that will bring fresh scrutiny to the party’s vetting standards.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, which is the largest body representing Jews in the UK, urged the Conservatives to drop him and said the selection “beggars belief.” Karen Newman, the board’s vice president, said the organisation had contacted the party to set out its concerns and call for his selection to be rescinded, along with a review of vetting processes. It is understood the party has now proposed a meeting with the Board, the Jewish Leadership Council and Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis so they can address those concerns directly.

Bonehill-Paine has said his former views were “indefensible” and says he now speaks out against extremism. He said he changed after learning of the murder of MP Jo Cox and later completed a de-radicalisation programme. He now gives counter-extremism sessions around the country. He has also said that when he was released from prison in 2018, people in his local community supported him as he tried to rebuild his life.