Former neo-Nazi withdraws as UK Conservative candidate but takes party advisory role, prompting fresh backlash

JTA – A former neo-Nazi whose selection as a Conservative candidate for next year’s local elections sparked outrage among Britain’s Jewish community has withdrawn from the race but is facing renewed criticism after accepting an advisory role within the party. 

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, 33, announced on Wednesday that he was stepping down as the Conservative candidate in the May 2027 election for the Crewkerne South seat on Somerset Council, saying his candidacy had become a distraction from his work combatting extremism. 

Instead, he said he would serve as an unpaid adviser to the Conservative Party’s Culture and Integration Commission on preventing the radicalisation of young men. In a long post on X on Wednesday afternoon, Bonehill-Paine explained his decision saying, in part, “I also know that if I stand as a council candidate, other political parties will spend all their time focusing on my past rather than the work I’m doing today, or even fighting antisemitism in their own midst. Rather than standing as a local council candidate, I believe that my experience is better used supporting Kemi Badenoch in her ongoing mission to combat the antisemitism and extremism that is dividing our nation.” 

The move did little to quell the controversy. Luciana Berger, the former Jewish Labour lawmaker whom Bonehill-Paine was convicted of racially harassing, slammed the decision. 

Berger, who is now a peer in the House of Lords, posted on X on Wednesday, “The decision to welcome this individual as an adviser to the Leader of the Opposition is no better than allowing him to stand as a council candidate. It is a privileged and influential national role. As a victim of this man’s heinous crimes this appointment is an insult.” 

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who had defended Bonehill-Paine’s selection as a candidate on Tuesday, said she was disappointed by his decision to withdraw but welcomed his new role advising the party on tackling extremism. 

She argued that people who had renounced extremist beliefs could play an important role in preventing others from becoming radicalised. 

Bonehill-Paine was imprisoned for more than two years after publishing what a judge described as “vile” antisemitic material ahead of a planned neo-Nazi demonstration and for racially aggravated harassment of Berger through a series of abusive blog posts. 

Among other slurs, he referred to Berger as an “evil money-grabber”, depicted her as a rodent, and said the number of Jewish Labour MPs was “a problem”. He had also called himself “a proud antisemite” while planning a 2015 rally that aimed to undo the “Jewification of Great Britain”. 

Berger represented Liverpool Wavertree from 2010 until 2019 and entered the House of Lords last year. During her tenure she received constant antisemitic abuse, both online and in person, and was the target of several criminal incidents involving extremist harassment. Bonehill-Paine was released from prison in 2018. 

According to The Guardian, Bonehill-Paine said the Conservative Party and his local branch were aware of his past before selecting him as a candidate. He told the paper that since his release from prison he has spoken publicly against antisemitism and extremism and has completed government-backed deradicalisation and counter-extremism programmes. 

The Conservative Campaign Headquarters responded to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment by relaying Badenoch’s remarks to reporters in Surrey on Tuesday morning. 

“I think people can look at me and know that I’m not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis,” said Badenoch, who was raised in Nigeria and who has become an outspoken critic of rising antisemitism in Britain. “Josh is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and on countering extremism.” 

She acknowledged Bonehill-Paine’s conviction but said he has “shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew he had caused previously”. 

She added that he is “actively working to help communities, especially Jewish communities, and this is what I want to see.” 

The Home Office later disputed that claim, saying it had not certified him to train police officers, although Bonehill-Paine has participated in government-backed counter-extremism and deradicalisation programmes. 

The backlash from Jewish organisations before Bonehill-Paine’s withdrawal was swift. The Jewish Labour Movement called the decision “truly appalling”, saying that Bonehill-Paine’s record, and particularly his attacks on Berger, should have disqualified him from elected office. “This is a former neo-Nazi who was sent to prison for racially abusing a Jewish politician,” the group said. 

Board of Deputies of British Jews vice-president Karen Newman said, “It beggars belief that any party would select as a candidate a multiply convicted felon and the founder of a far-right group called National British Resistance.” 

She also noted that the Board had contacted the Conservative Party “to set out our concerns and call on them to rescind his selection and review their vetting processes”. 

The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council issued a separate joint statement saying they had declined the Conservative Party’s invitation to meet with Bonehill-Paine, stating that his “crimes targeting Luciana Berger and others mean that he still faces ongoing legal restrictions”. 

They added, “While we do believe in the possibility of rehabilitation, this should not in this case entail selection as a candidate for a major political party, and the impact of this decision on the victims ought to be a central consideration.” 

Both organisations said they had agreed to meet with members of the party “to discuss their decision-making processes and to urge them to rescind this decision”. 

After Bonehill-Paine withdrew, the Board of Deputies said it welcomed his decision to step aside, stating, “We continue to urge all parties to use their vetting to ensure a robust stance on racism and discrimination, including antisemitism.” 

The controversy also drew criticism from outside the Jewish community. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Bonehill-Paine should never have been selected as a candidate, while Liberal Democrat MP Adam Dance said his withdrawal was the right outcome, but criticised Badenoch for portraying objections to the appointment as “piling on”. Reform UK also condemned the decision to give Bonehill-Paine an advisory role.