British ex-neo-Nazi withdraws as Conservative candidate for local council, will serve as anti-radicalization adviser

A British former neo-Nazi who was convicted of harassing a Jewish lawmaker has withdrawn from the race for the Somerset local council as the Conservative Party candidate after intense backlash to his nomination.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine says he will instead serve as a party adviser on extremism.

Bonehill-Paine, 33, was jailed in 2015 for more than three years for posting antisemitic material in advance of a neo-Nazi rally. He was later convicted of harassing Luciana Berger, who is Jewish and was then an MP for the Labour Party, calling her a “rodent” and an “evil money-grabber.”

Bonehill-Paine, who has disavowed his past views, says on X he “had thought that getting involved in my local council and working hard for my community was a good way to show how much I have changed and that I want to give something back.”

But, he said, he now realized that “I need to show the Jewish community how much I regret my previous actions and how hard I will work to fight to help destroy antisemitism and rebuild trust.”

“Since leaving prison, I have now spent years fighting antisemitism and extremism,” he adds.

He says Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has offered him to “become an adviser to the Conservative Party’s Culture and Integration Commission, specifically focusing on how young men become radicalized.”

He says he is saddened by the refusal of Jewish leaders to meet with him. “My offer to talk still remains. I am on their side, and I am actively trying to help people susceptible to radicalization and Jew hatred from heading down that path.”