Barnet councillor condemns ex-neo-Nazi's Tory advisory role

Barnet Green councillor Charli Thompson has described Kemi Badenoch's support for Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a man with multiple convictions for antisemitism and neo-Nazi activity, as "completely indefensible". Bonehill-Paine had been selected as a Conservative Party candidate for the 2027 Somerset Council elections earlier this month. Following public backlash, he withdrew from the election race, but not before Kemi Badenoch, a national Conservative leader, had offered him an advisory role.

Charli Thompson, the sole Green Party councillor in Barnet, stated her strong disapproval of Badenoch's decision. "Given the seriousness of Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s history of neo-Nazi activity and antisemitic harassment I find the decision not only to select him as a Conservative candidate, but then to offer him a national advisory role, completely indefensible," Thompson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. She added that "Xenophobia in any form is abhorrent."

Past Convictions and Public Criticism

Bonehill-Paine has a history of convictions. In 2014, he was convicted of malicious communications relating to an anti-Islam hoax that resulted in death threats against pub owners in Leicester. In December 2015, he received a sentence of three years and four months after being arrested for inciting racial hatred against Jewish people. In 2016, he was given an additional two-year jail sentence for an online antisemitic campaign targeting Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP and now a member of the House of Lords. During this campaign, he made derogatory remarks about Berger and labelled his online actions "Operation Filthy Jew Bitch".

Barnet council leader Barry Rawlings also addressed the matter in an open letter to Barnet Conservative leader Peter Zinkin. Rawlings questioned whether Zinkin would publicly urge Kemi Badenoch to remove Bonehill-Paine from any official Conservative Party role. He also asked if Zinkin would remonstrate with Badenoch for expressing sadness at Bonehill-Paine's withdrawal as a candidate and for stating he should not have been selected. Rawlings urged Zinkin to take a stand against extremism, stating, "We live in a time of surging extremism on right and left, and it is critical that those of us who believe in a tolerant liberal society take a stand."

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Differing Views on Rehabilitation

Peter Zinkin, a Conservative councillor for Golders Green, responded to Rawlings' letter. Zinkin stated that as a member of the Jewish community, he understood the concerns raised. He noted that while many were upset by the decision, others supported Kemi Badenoch's principle that individuals who have genuinely changed and shown remorse should be given opportunities for rehabilitation. "There are genuine differences of opinion on this issue, and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise," Zinkin said.

Bonehill-Paine himself has stated that he has reformed his views since his release from prison in May 2018 and has since engaged in counter-extremism work.