A former far-right activist who has spent time in prison for anti-semitic abuse has been selected as the Tory candidate for a local council election.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine will stand as the Conservative Party candidate for election to Somerset council next year in a new Crewkerne South district.
Bonehill-Paine is the creator behind the Crewkerne Gazette, a satirical online account that shares AI sketches about British politics, and an executive member of the Tories’ Yeovil branch, working as an events organiser.
The Guardian reports that Bonehill-Paine has previously described himself as a “nationalist, fascist, theorist and supporter of white rights,” but has since worked to “combat antisemitism and extremism.”
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He also has a number of convictions against his name, including assaulting a police officer and burglary of a police station.
In 2013, he pleaded guilty to a charge of malicious communication after spreading a rumour that a pub in Leicester had refused to serve members of the armed forces to avoid upsetting the city’s ethnic minorities.
In 2015, the 33-year-old was jailed for more than three years after inciting racial hatred for posting an antisemitic material online ahead of a neo-Nazi demonstration in Golders Green in London.
The following year, he was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment of then Labour MP Luciana Berger, who is Jewish.
Bonehill-Paine had posted messages on his blog labelling Berger a “rodent” and an “evil money-grabber”.
Somerset Live reported earlier this year that he has described himself as the founder and leader of far-right group the National British Resistance.
Bonehill-Paine has apologised for his actions, telling Somerset Live they were “disgusting” and that he is “deeply sorry” for his comments about Berger.
Speaking to the Guardian this week, Bonehill-Paine said the Conservative Party’s Yeovil branch is “fully aware of my past.”
“Our chairman has been a vocal advocate and has supported me since I became a member of the party. I am very grateful for the support,” he said.
In a statement on X responding to the Guardian’s report about him, Bonehill-Paine said he had “worked to combat antisemitism and extremism” for the past eight years.
He wrote: “I hold Home Office certification for my counter-extremism work, which has taken me across the country delivering training to police officers, probation services, schools, universities and many other organisations.
“I have never done this work for attention or accolades. I do it because I care deeply about my country and want to help reduce all forms of extremism.”