More than a fifth of councillors in a new Local Government Association (LGA) survey said they had received a threat of violence in their role.
The LGA research received 1,734 responses from councillors in England and Wales, with 22% reporting that they had been threatened with violence, of which 23% said they received a death threat.
Almost a quarter (23%) of respondents said they had suffered abuse that was serious enough to report to the police.
Overall, 73% of council members reported experiencing abuse or intimidation in their role in the past year.
Councillors also reported that abuse, threats and misinformation online had put them off using social media or engaging with online debate.
The chair of the LGA’s civility in public life steering group, Marianne Overton, said: ‘These results are troubling – not only do they highlight the concerns for the safety and wellbeing of councillors, but show how violence and intimidation can be corrosive to our democracy as they discourage people from taking up public office and from speaking fairly on vital issues.
‘We need Government to act decisively to ensure high levels of abuse do not become an accepted part of public life and that councillors are safe and confident as they carry out their vital elected role – working to represent their communities.’
The LGA has called on the Government to allow councillors to withhold their addresses from publication and to establish a cross-Whitehall unit to monitor and address the abuse of locally elected politicians and candidates.
