Cat Smith, Labour’s shadow minister for democracy, accused the Tories of being “silent on the topic” since the review took place more than two years ago. “The government must respond urgently to this evidence ahead of a historically large set of elections in May,” she added.
Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael told openDemocracy that the government’s response to the result was “long overdue”.
“It is unfathomable that the Conservatives would refuse to join the other parties in signing up to a joint statement to ensure people seeking political office in the upcoming local elections treat each other respectfully,” Carmichael said.
The Local Government Association last month warned of “increasing online intimidation, abuse and threats” being received by local councillors, with underrepresented groups being targeted particularly.
Jemma Joy is one of many women who has faced abuse during elections. The 45-year-old from Cleveland, North Yorkshire, works for a pharmaceutical company, and is standing as a Liberal Democrat in the local council elections. She told openDemocracy that the abuse and intimidation involved with political campaigns puts people off local democracy.
“When you knock on someone’s door, you are choosing to interact with them,” she said. “But what you don’t sign up for is the relentless messages and trolling online. What scares me about it is that it’s anonymous – you have no idea who they are, but they know exactly who you are.
Joy describes the 2019 general election, in which she stood as the Lib Dem candidate for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, as “particularly hostile”. She added: “I’d get messages and my husband would say ‘don’t tell me about it because it gets me so angry’. There came a point where they were just popping up everywhere.
“At the last general election, I attended a hustings debate where someone was so upset that they left the stage in tears, and it was quite awful to see that. I called her up to say ‘I disagree with you politically, but I will be your ally’. I was so sad about that.”
