Police will be better equipped to protect candidates from abuse, intimidation, and violence under new measures announced ahead of the local elections in May.
A new national police unit will be established this month to target offenders who threaten and harass councillor candidates ahead of the forthcoming elections, due to be held on 7th May – including here on the Isle of Wight.
There has been a concerning rise in harassment of those in public office, with the Electoral Commission reporting that 55% of the candidates who stood in the last general election experienced some form of abuse or intimidation.
A separate survey led by the Local Government Association in 2025 found that 7 in 10 councillors reported experiencing abuse or intimidation in the last year.
To crack down on the unacceptable abuse that many have suffered online specifically, the Government is engaging directly with social media platforms to strengthen online protections for candidates and elected representatives, ensuring unlawful abuse is passed to the Police. Under the Online Safety Act, technology companies now have clear legal duties to identify, remove and prevent illegal content, including threats.
New and strengthened guidance will also be issued to frontline officers, with greater clarity on how to respond to incidents involving politicians. To reinforce this, the Security Minister has written to the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council to remind Chief Constables of the wide range of powers available and urged them not to hesitate to use them to protect candidates.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis has said:
“Harassment, intimidation, abuse, and violence are not acceptable political expression. We will never tolerate it, nor allow it to become the new normal.
Article continues below this advertisement “This is a year-round task, but we’re ramping up action ahead of local elections by putting in place protections and support for those campaigning, and ensuring any offenders face tough consequences.
“To the public and those who serve them, protecting our democracy is a shared responsibility. We all must call out this abuse whenever and wherever we see it.”
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, Head of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC), says:
“We will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of candidates or their supporters, whether in person or online. Police forces up and down the country will be working hard to detect and prevent crime, ensuring the democratic process is free from interference of any kind.
“A network of trained officers has been established to offer bespoke support and guidance to candidates. This will help minimise risk while campaigning and provide guidance on any online and social media concerns. A national operation has also been stood up to ensure forces are aligned and able to share the most up to date intelligence.
“It is vital our elections are not undermined by criminality, and we will work with our partners to make sure we can respond to any incidents robustly and effectively.”
Good. This imaginary ‘far right’ nonsense is a myth. The really scary people are the middle class, not as clever as they think they are lefties. Especially those residing on a small,white majority Island that have not visited an inner city in their lives!
I trust they will also be setting up a specialist unit to protect the electorate from electoral promises?
Interesting that police will seek to protect some wannabe councillors from hurty words when they voice some haur brained schemes that a pre school child would even think daft, perhaps the police would be better employed in preventing electoral fraud