Former neo-Nazi pulls out of local race in UK, tapped as anti-radicalization adviser

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, 33, served years in prison for antisemitic harassment of then-Labour MP Luciana Berger; she calls appointment an ‘insult,’ Jewish groups welcome withdrawal

A reformed neo-Nazi who was slated to run for the UK’s Conservative party in a local election has withdrawn his candidacy, after party leader Kemi Badenoch offered him an advisory role assisting counter-extremist efforts.

In a post to X, Joshua Bonehill-Paine wrote: “The last 24 hours have shown that a lot of people do not understand how terrible I feel about the things I did when I was much younger.”

“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,” he wrote.

The Tory leader confirmed she had offered the ex-candidate a place on the Culture and Integration commission, focusing on “tackling radicalization.”

British Jewish groups had fumed after Bonehill-Paine, 33, received the party’s endorsement, given his history of hate speech and antisemitic harassment, for which he served more than three years in prison.

Prior to his stint behind bars, Bonehill-Paine had described himself as a fascist and supporter of “white rights,” and led a far-right group called the National British Resistance, which opposed British democracy as a project by “cultural Marxist Judeo-backed capitalist vermin.”

Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2015 after publishing antisemitic material ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally, a crime that he committed while on bail for harassing Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger, whom he called a “rodent” and an “evil money-grabber.”

He now works with schools, universities, police and probation officials to counter radicalization, and he has said his views changed after MP Jo Cox was murdered by a white supremacist in 2016. He also runs a YouTube channel that posts AI-generated political satire.

In his post Wednesday, Bonehill-Paine wrote: “I was 21 when antisemitism became my whole way of seeing the world. Because of my abhorrent behavior, I was convicted, imprisoned and deservedly punished. Since leaving prison, I have now spent years fighting antisemitism and extremism.”

On Wednesday, the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies said they’d declined an invitation to meet with the ex-radical, noting he was still subject to legal restrictions stemming from his convictions.

“Whilst we do believe in the possibility of rehabilitation, this should not in this case entail selection as a candidate for a political party,” the groups said.

His selection as a candidate was also condemned by the Labour Party, which called it “a total disgrace.”

A poll released after Bonehill-Paine’s withdrawal found that 57 precent of UK voters considered his selection unacceptable, according to The Guardian.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, however, had defended Bonehill-Paine’s candidacy.

“If we can’t have the people who have previously been radicalized, 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?” she told the BBC.

The Tory leader — a staunch supporter of Israel who has demanded more aggressive action against antisemitic attacks in the UK — noted that Bonehill-Paine was not being given a national platform but rather would be dealing with local issues, such as parking and garbage collection.

On Monday, Badenoch also asserted that Bonehill-Paine was “certified by the Home Office” to train police officers on antisemitism and combating extremism. However, on Wednesday, the UK’s Home Office clarified that it “does not certify individuals to deliver training.”

MP that he harassed: ‘This appointment is an insult’

Berger, the former MP whom Bonehill-Paine harassed, took issue with this purported resolution to the controversy.

“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,” she wrote on X.

“It is a privileged and influential national role. As a victim of this man’s heinous crimes this appointment is an insult.”

Earlier, Berger, who is now a Labour member of the House of Lords, had spoken out against the ex-con’s selection as a candidate, writing on her blog that “seeing his name hit me like a punch to the stomach.”

Recalling his harassment of her, the ex-lawmaker noted that “throughout the trial, he showed no contrition,” adding that at one point he performed a Nazi salute for his supporters in the public gallery.

“I am all for rehabilitation. But there’s a gulf between being sorry and being allowed to stand for election,” she wrote.

The Jewish Leadership Council issued a brief statement Wednesday in support of Bonehill-Paine’s withdrawal as a candidate. The statement did not mention his being tapped to advise the culture and integration commission.

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Jewish Board of Deputies, told Times Radio that, as a general matter, “I think it is good to use the experiences of people who have themselves been down this track to counter radicalization in other places.”

But, he said: “We’d want to see a longer-term commitment to that. We’d want to see that it really sticks. We’d want to see the victims, themselves, most importantly, are convinced of that. We’re not there yet.”

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.