For several candidates, the 2024 UK general election was the worst they had experienced. Some described being filmed and chased down the street while campaigning; others stopped attending hustings or only did so with police protection.
It was marked by an increase in tensions over the Israel-Gaza war, with Labour candidates coming under strong pressure over their record on the issue. Several pro-Palestinian independent candidates ended up winning in former Labour strongholds.
A group of independent candidates has written a letter criticising suggestions their campaigns were linked to a rise in intimidation, and there have been calls for greater clarity on where legitimate debate and protest ends and harassment and intimidation begins.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is conducting a rapid review. She said this month that there had been “an alarming rise in intimidation” during the election campaign and “the disgraceful scenes” seen in some areas “must not be repeated”.
Here, three candidates in the 4 July election speak about the rise in political intimidation and abuse they experienced.
Heather Iqbal, Labour candidate in Dewsbury and Batley
Heather Iqbal, a former adviser to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was defeated as Labour’s candidate in the newly created seat of Dewsbury and Batley by an independent candidate, Iqbal Mohamed.
Iqbal has called on Mohamed to disown his supporters, who she said waged a campaign of “very public abuse and intimidation” against her. This included malicious content online questioning whether she was a real Muslim because of her first name and white husband. A spokesperson for Mohamed has said he “firmly rejects” the idea his campaign used any negative tactics during the election.
Iqbal said: “It’s right that you should be able to go up to a politician in the street and tell them you don’t agree with them. But being followed, having pictures taken of you, being shouted at … if that’s happening every day it starts to make you feel very intimidated. It’s the daily nature of constant abuse.
“The other level at which it happened was on WhatsApp – pictures of me leaving or arriving at events, long posts that were really personal. It’s the personal nature of the attacks and that’s what makes it really tough.”
Saqib Bhatti, Conservative MP for Meriden and Solihull East
Saqib Bhatti, a Conservative former science minister who was re-elected in Meriden and Solihull East, said he chose to arrange security protection when he attended hustings. Earlier this year, the Home Office announced a £31m package dedicated to providing MPs with enhanced security and police support if they request it.
Bhatti said the measures were needed. “In the past 12 months, threats of violence were prolific on social media. Some MPs weren’t doing hustings this time around. I did hustings but I had security there with me every time for peace of mind,” he said.
“The challenge is how you balance free speech and the right to protest with the right for people to stand as candidates and not be harassed. It’s right that we take the security of the process seriously as it goes right to the integrity of our democracy and our democratic processes.”
Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley
Jess Phillips, recently appointed as a Home Office minister, was one of several Birmingham Labour MPs who faced a tough re-election battle, ultimately hanging on by just 693 votes after a challenge by the pro-Palestinian Workers party candidate Jody McIntyre.
On election night there was a notable police presence at the Birmingham count. Phillips was jeered and heckled and she delivered a sombre victory speech in which she said the degree of harassment and intimidation had made it the worst election at which she had stood. She recounted how one young female Labour activist was filmed and screamed at by a much older man while she delivered leaflets. Another activist had her tyres slashed.
Phillips told the Guardian’s Saturday magazine this weekend that during the election campaign, rival activists would turn up to film her speaking to voters on the doorstep and follow her to events. “The people behind the doors don’t want to be filmed, so they have isolated you from being able to talk to the people you represent. I couldn’t go to hustings because they’d have people shouting at me so they could film it,” she said.
Phillips stressed that she had not considered quitting despite this, saying: “To quit in the face of threats and violence is to allow threats and violence to win.”
