Badenoch speaks out after former neo-Nazi withdraws as Tory candidate in local election
- Kemi Badenoch has said she is sad that Joshua Bonehill-Paine has withdrawn his candidacy for a Conservative council election in Somerset.
- Bonehill-Paine was previously jailed in 2016 for racially aggravated harassment of Labour peer Baroness Luciana Berger, who is Jewish, and for producing a neo-Nazi rally advert featuring Auschwitz.
- Ms Badenoch expressed sadness at the decision but welcomed Bonehill-Paine’s commitment to working with her and the Conservative Party on tackling radicalisation.
- She had , initially defended Bonehill-Paine’s selection, arguing for the possibility of rehabilitation, but clarified that her thresholds for parliamentary candidates were much higher than for local councillors.
- The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) declined to meet Bonehill-Paine, describing him as a “former neo-Nazi with criminal convictions for antisemitic hatred,” and criticised his selection by a major political party.
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