Political leaders in Preston have called for decent and respectful campaigning ahead of next month’s local elections amid reports of misogynistic and antisemitic attacks online.
A meeting of Preston City Council heard that candidates from across the political divide have been subject to what one veteran councillor said was the worst abuse he had ever witnessed.
Stephen Thompson – the lone Reform UK member at the town hall – said one woman standing for his party had been on the receiving end of some “very worrying” comments.
“It is extremely antisemitic, it is extremely misogynistic…it is basically abusive – and I have never seen anything like it.
“It’s not across the board, but it’s certainly [the case that] some people…have been picked on,” said Cllr Thompson, who was first elected to the authority in 2007 as a Conservative, before defecting to Reform last year.
He said he expected campaigning to be “carried out with honesty, integrity and decency”, adding: “This sort of behaviour, [whether from] the general public or other political parties…not only affects politics in general, it affects people’s personal lives.”
Ruling Labour group leader Matthew Brown said while he was unaware of the particular incident being referred to, his party would “roundly condemn” any kind of “hate, antisemitism [or] racism”.
He told the meeting that a Labour member had also been “subject to some pretty horrible online abuse already, [which] is misogynistic”.
“At the moment, things are very polarised in this country – that is obvious,” Cllr Brown said. “But people who are standing for public office with the best of intentions – whoever they are – they should not be harassed or bullied or anything else.
“We should be scrutinised, we should be challenged – [and] people should protest against politicians, that’s healthy. But when you get into levels of hatred… discrimination and racism and sexism and everything else, that is completely wrong.”
He said that although the situation seemed “pretty calm” in Preston at the moment, experience from last year’s Lancashire County Council elections showed that things could become “intense” as polling day approaches, on 7th May.
A briefing for election candidates and their agents in Preston took place shortly after last Thursday’s meeting, which was attended – as has become standard – by the police.
The city’s mayor, Sue Whittam, reminded her fellow councillors that any concerns over safety during the election campaign should be raised through Operation Ford, the nationwide initiative designed to protect elected representatives from harassment and intimidation “in connection with their official position”.
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