Who is Joshua Bonehill-Paine? The former neo-Nazi activist picked to stand for the Tories

Who is Joshua Bonehill-Paine? The former neo-Nazi activist picked to stand for the Tories Kemi Badenoch has defended the decision - Bookmark Former neo-Nazi activist Joshua Bonehill-Paine is set to stand as a Tory candidate in council elections after the party gave him a “second chance”. The 33-year-old spent three years in prison for posting antisemitic material, he was also convicted for harassing the former Labour MP Luciana Berger. The Conservatives have now selected Mr Bonehill-Paine to stand in the new Somerset Council seat Crewkern South in 2027. But the decision has been met with criticism from the Board of Deputies of British Jews who said the move is “beggars belief”. Who is Joshua Bonehill-Paine? Mr Bonehill-Paine was born in Yeovil, Somerset, and went to public school before being expelled for fighting. Then aged 13-years-old, he moved away from his family home and spent time in children’s homes and foster homes, in hopes it would stop his wayward behaviour, according to an interview with Somerset Live. After retaking his GCSEs he started working with the Conservatives. But his career in politics came to an end when he was 18 after he broke into a Chard police station in 2011 to steal a uniform, which included body armour, baton and handcuffs, and assault a police officer. He was given a community order at Yeovil Magistrates Court after admitting burglary and assault, The Telegraph reported. He later started publishing racist and anti-immigration hoaxes in his blog The Daily Bale (Britons Against Left-wing Extremism). He was also behind the online satirical project The Crewkerne Gazette. The page, which has more than 40,000 followers on X and more than 50,000 on YouTube, features AI-generated videos depicting various real-life politicians, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Mrs Badenoch, shadow home secretary Chris Philp and Prime Minister Andy Burnham. What are his previous convictions? In 2014 he was convicted of malicious communications over an anti-Islam hoax that led to death threats against the owners of a Leicester pub. In 2015, he was convicted of inciting racial hatred and promoting an antisemitic demonstration. He produced an advert for a neo-Nazi rally illustrated with a picture of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz with the phrase “an absolute gas”. In 2016, he was convicted of racially harassing then-Labour MP Luciana Berger, who is Jewish. He wrote several blog posts about the peer, who was the MP for Liverpool Wavertree at the time, in which he described her as “an evil money-grabber” with a “deep-rooted hatred of men”. In one post, he claimed the number of Jewish Labour MPs was a “problem”. He has since said his actions were “disgusting” and is "deeply sorry” for the way he treated Baroness Berger. Why has Kemi Badenoch defended him? The Tory leader defended Joshua Bonehill-Paine, adding she believed Mr Bonehill-Paine had been rehabilitated. Mrs Badenoch told Today she understood Lady Berger’s position but added: “I think what Luciana is talking about is not rehabilitation but forgiveness. “I can understand that she does not want to forgive this man. I might not if I had been his victim. The Tory leader said Mr Bonehill-Paine had done “a lot of terrible things” but he had been rehabilitated and now worked to tackle racism and antisemitism. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I’m not giving him a national platform, he is standing to be a councillor in Somerset… it is a local platform looking at parking, sorting out bins… I have much higher thresholds for what it takes to be a Conservative MP.” Mrs Badenoch added: “I am extremely worried about antisemitism and what I feel is that if we can’t have the people who have previously been radicalised, who understand what went wrong and are part of the fight against antisemitism now, if we’re saying: ‘No, no, no, you’re untouchable’, then how can we pretend that we believe in rehabilitation? “I’m someone who’s quite sceptical about rehabilitation and I see this man as somebody who has been rehabilitated.” What has he said? Mr Bonehill-Paine said on Tuesday he had “no excuses” for his past offending and added he has since dedicated himself to “challenging the wave of hatred British Jews continue to face”. Who has criticised plans for him to stand in 2027 council elections? The Board of Deputies of British Jews has said the move is “beggars belief” while Baroness Berger said she feels “a bit sick” that he has been selected. Reacting to the news on X, she said: "This case still haunts me." "I feel a bit sick reading well known commentators debate his selection today and say that 'these are precisely the people we need in public office'. She added: "For the avoidance of doubt I don't believe this man should have any role in public life, because of both his racism and his view of women. "Kemi Badenoch you've got this very, very wrong." [Image text:] JOSHUA BONEHILL-PAINE FOR CREWKERNESOUTH Winsham GET Crewkerne Hewish Wayford Misterton