Former neo-Nazi activist Joshua Bonehill-Paine has withdrawn as a Conservative candidate for next year's Somerset Council elections but has been appointed as an adviser to party leader Kemi Badenoch.
Bonehill-Paine was convicted of racially harassing Jewish former Labour MP Luciana Berger in 2016, while serving a separate jail sentence for social media posts expressing antisemitic views.
Badenoch had previously backed his candidacy for the council election, citing anti-extremism work he carried out after leaving prison. Announcing his new advisory role, she said tackling extremism and antisemitism required help from people ‘who were part of the problem but have now changed and are being part of the solution.’
The move followed condemnation from opposition parties and Jewish groups. Baroness Berger told the BBC: ‘This man has a record of offences...that were deeply antisemitic, racist, misogynistic.’
Bonehill-Paine will now focus on how young men become radicalised as part of the party's culture and integration commission.
The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council said: 'The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council have declined the Conservative Party’s invitation to meet with a former neo-Nazi with criminal convictions for antisemitic hatred. The severity of Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s crimes targeting Luciana Berger and others mean that he still faces ongoing legal restrictions.
'Whilst we do believe in the possibility of rehabilitation, this should not in this case entail selection as a candidate for a political party, and the impact of this decision on the victims ought to be a central consideration.
'We have agreed to meet the Conservative Party to discuss their decision making processes and to urge them to rescind this decision.'
