UK Conservative Party Selects Former Neo-Nazi Activist as Local Election Candidate

The UK Conservative Party has chosen Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a 33-year-old former neo-Nazi activist convicted of antisemitic offenses, as their candidate for the Somerset County Council elections, according to The Guardian. Bonehill-Paine was previously convicted in 2014 for assaulting a police officer and sentenced to over three years in prison in 2015 for distributing antisemitic material ahead of a neo-Nazi rally. He was also convicted of harassing Luciana Berger, a Jewish Labour MP, whom he insulted with antisemitic slurs.

Bonehill-Paine formerly led the group National British Resistance and described himself as a nationalist, fascist, theorist, and white rights supporter. In recent years, he claims to have renounced his past and expressed regret for his previous actions, stating in interviews and videos that he served his sentence and now works to prevent others from following his path. He told The Guardian that the local Conservative branch and party leadership were fully aware of his history and that he has received vocal support from the local chairman since joining the party.

His selection has drawn criticism from Reform UK, a right-wing party, which accused the Conservatives of hypocrisy for endorsing a candidate with a history of antisemitism and neo-Nazism. Reform UK highlighted the contradiction between Conservative leader Liz Truss's stated commitment to fighting antisemitism and the party's choice of Bonehill-Paine. The Conservative Party has not issued an immediate response to the report.