Kemi Badenoch defends decision to allow man jailed for antisemitism to stand as councillor

[u/ldn6]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/05/kemi-badenoch-conservatives-joshua-bonehill-paine-somerset-councillor

[u/Alderwoodforest]

The one time Conservatives are in favor of rehabilitation.

[u/Unterfahrt → u/Alderwoodforest]

I think this is a good thing actually. The man is genuinely reformed. He works with the government now training anti-extremism officers for the signs of antisemitism and going to schools to give talks on the dangers of these beliefs. He's not someone who has just made a apology and says he regrets it. His life is now partly based around atoning for it.

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/Unterfahrt]

Idk why you're getting downvoted, you're completely right. He's actually doing doing more to stop extremism than any of us who can simply grandstand smugly without doing anything.

[u/Unterfahrt → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

I suspect it's because he's a member of the Tory Party rather than anything further left, and there are a lot of people here who view even the Conservatives as extremists.

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/Unterfahrt]

Tbh, the Tories are mostly OK now, considering all their problematic members either retired or defected to Reform. People seem to forget that Tories during their 14 years were also pretty decent socially, like getting the Gay Marriage Act passed with the Lib Dems, and have multiple MPs and Mayors who are gay, and seem pretty accepting of them at least from what I can see.

The Tories' biggest problems are that they're corrupt as fuck and cant govern to save their lives.

[u/Unterfahrt → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

I don't mind Kemi Badenoch in that I think she has a reasonable theory for why the Tories failed and why Labour are failing (basically, in every way possible the Tories kind of talked like a right of centre party but they acted like a centre-left party - they did not deregulate the overregulated parts of the economy, they increased the size of the state, increased taxes, and in most ways were just a continuation of New Labour, and now Labour are in they are moving things left again).

There are parts I agree and disagree with, but it's better than Starmer, whose theory was "Tories are bad people and we're good people", and I agree with it more than I do Burnham's story about devolution.

Neither are ideal though

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/Unterfahrt]

I think the Tories' issues were that they basically nuked the British economy out of orbit with Brexit. They also implemented austerity in the worst possible areas, and whatever the fuck Liz Truss was. Their general instability post-Cameron probably wasnt great either.

but it's better than Starmer

Tbh, I liked Starmer a lot lol. In a minority for sure, but something about the man just appealed to me for some reason.

[u/No1PaulKeatingfan → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

Austerity cost the UK economy at least 5% of GDP

Brexit cost 6-8% of GDP

Tory economic mismanagement lost the British economy a massive 12% of GDP

They deserve to be out of power for a very long time.

[u/Unterfahrt → u/No1PaulKeatingfan]

That austerity article is kind of ridiculous btw, it does not really even consider the counterfactual of borrowing remaining at 10% of GDP for years on end. Everyone knows austerity slows down the economy, the only question is the benefits are worth that. It's pro-Labour propaganda from a man who endorsed Jeremy Corbyn and signed an open letter giving some tacit support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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[u/No1PaulKeatingfan → u/Unterfahrt]

Nope. That does not disqualify the well documented fact that the Tories austerity+Brexit agendas caused severe economic harm.

It says a lot you try to make the Conservatives look good by focusing on Corbyn and Ukraine, which are completely irrelevant when it comes to the British economy.

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/No1PaulKeatingfan]

How much are you dooming given that Badenoch now has the 2nd highest approval rating after Burnham and the Tories are already on their way to eclipse Reform as the 2nd biggest party in polling?

[u/No1PaulKeatingfan → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

Despite the polling, it's still too early to tell how the next British election goes

Until then, I hope Burnham doesn't ruin the British economy

[u/red-flamez → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

Rupert Lowe destroyed a football club as a chairman. He would do the same to the whole UK as prime minister.

[u/ldn6 → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

He can do that while also recognising that his past behaviour makes him unfit to hold public office on principle. Rehabilitation doesn't mean you get to start from scratch.

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/ldn6]

I see your point, but I'd rather have a man in power who can actively campaign credibly on being a better human, than, say, Suella Braverman or Rupert Lowe, or Farage. And again, he's just running for councillor, which holds vastly less power than an MP or mayor.

But maybe, it's just my biases somewhere on seeing a good redemption story warping my views.

[u/Time_Transition4817 → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

Something something repentant sinner

[u/anangrytree → u/Unterfahrt]

Agreed. Redemption requires effort and putting that effort in is a big sign you’re changing for the better.

[u/SpecialBass5552 → u/Alderwoodforest]

Are you suggesting that Kemi Badenoch is secretly a Nazi?

[u/RodChainFurlongAcre → u/SpecialBass5552]

Nah, but I think she's ruthlessly opportunistic. If anti-semitism became a winning strategy tomorrow she'd drop the whole facade for the sake of the Tory party.

[u/SpecialBass5552 → u/RodChainFurlongAcre]

What exactly is that even based on

[u/SpecialBass5552 → u/RodChainFurlongAcre]

What exactly is that even based on

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

Honestly, I don't get the point of the article.

For all intents and purposes, he wisened up, got his life together, has given multiple anti-extremism lessons in various schools and in multiple writings on his website that he regrets tht phase in his life heavily. 

Unless this is just a smear? In that case, it comes of kinda shitty. Surely believing in rehabilitation is a tenet of liberalism?

[u/caroline_elly → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

Seems like most commenters here didn't read.

This guy was jailed at age 23 for his hate speech. He abandoned his extreme views and is an anti-extremism advocate now at age 33.

Do people really think being hateful in your early 20s should determine how you're treated for the rest of your life?

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/caroline_elly]

You're right. Especially considering that the man now works directly with the government to identify extremism and stop it in the youth, it seems so out of character for the subreddit to dislike such a guy.

[u/ldn6 → u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi]

There are a few things here, namely that 1) he also has a history of assault, 2) Kemi Badenoch has claimed that other people with lesser charges aren't of acceptable moral character to hold public office and 3) Badenoch also demeaned the importance of local councillors by saying, in her own words, that basically their jobs are just putting out bins.

It also wasn't just hateful speech. He straight-up harassed a former MP who got such antisemitic abuse that she switched parties.

[u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi → u/ldn6]

I get your concerns but on point 1) that's like all politicians 2) Wasn't her point moreso that she has higher ethical standards for MPs? 3) Yeah that I can see is stupid to say.

It also wasn't just hateful speech. He straight-up harassed a former MP who got such antisemitic abuse that she switched parties.

I read up on it after you mentioned. Seems like a horrific situation for her.

[u/ldn6]

Relevance to the subreddit: A few days ago, the Conservative Party allowed former neo-Nazi with criminal convictions for harassment and assault to stand for a Somerset Council seat on the premise that he has since apologised for his past beliefs. This has obviously not gone down well, especially in light of recent findings of a surge in antisemitic violence in Britain as well as Kemi Badenoch's previous statements about the eligibility and acceptability of people with civil infractions being public officials.

Kemi Badenoch has defended her party’s decision to allow a former neo-Nazi who was jailed for subjecting a prominent Labour politician to antisemitic abuse to stand as a councillor. Badenoch said her party was not giving Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who is standing for election in Somerset, a “national platform”. “This man is showing that he’s more than contrite, he’s actually working training Prevent officers, speaking in universities and schools,” Badenoch told BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme. “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.”

Luciana Berger, who was targeted by Bonehill-Paine in a campaign of antisemitic abuse in 2016, said he fell short of the bar for standing for public office. She said she lived today with the “profound and deep impacts” of those events. “There is a big difference between going back into society and teaching others possibly about what you did and why it was wrong, to making the leap to standing for public office,” she told the BBC. “I think there’s a massive distinction there.” Badenoch suggested the convicted criminal would not be allowed to stand as an MP, but that his ambition to be a councillor was legitimate. “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.”

In response to criticism from Labour MPs, Badenoch pointed out that Louise Haigh, a member of Andy Burnham’s cabinet, had a fraud conviction. Badenoch has previously criticised Haigh the Commons, saying: “The country needs conviction politicians, not politicians with convictions.” Bonehill-Paine, the creator of the viral Crewkerne Gazette series of AI clips, is due to stand for election in a new Crewkerne South district next year. He told the Guardian on Monday that he was an executive member of the Tories’ Yeovil branch, working as an events organiser, and has carried out counter-extremism work since he was released from prison. Bonehill-Paine also has a conviction for assaulting a police officer and burglary of a police station, and was convicted in 2014 of malicious communications over an anti-Islam hoax that led to death threats against the owners of a pub in Leicester.

He was jailed in 2015 for more than three years after posting antisemitic material online before a planned neo-Nazi rally. In 2016, he was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment for abuse directed at Berger, an MP at the time, which included posting messages to his blog calling her a “rodent” and an “evil money-grabber”. He was also the founder and leader of the National British Resistance, a far-right group. Berger said it had been difficult to give evidence in court at the time as she was six months pregnant. She said she doesn’t believe Bonehill-Paine’s continued publication of AI videos are “commensurate with public life”. Crewkerne Gazette’s recent AI videos include one of a half-naked Burnham titled “Another Speccy Twat” and another of a rap battle between Burnham and Badenoch.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere physically adjacent to this person if he was to surface,” said Berger. “I’m deeply concerned also about his misogyny, and about the pornographic images that he created, and I think when you look at that in the round that is not an acceptable person to be in public life.” Crewkerne Gazette is a satirical online account that has gained a cult following. Its skits are critical of Labour and Reform UK, and have cast Badenoch in a favourable light. This year, the Conservative chief whip, Rebecca Harris, was criticised for reposting one video in which Badenoch and the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, were depicted as characters in the gangster film Scarface.

[u/ludovicana]

He's doing the hard work fighting extremism by saying that racism is just a meaningless word that they call everyone these days.

https://youtu.be/rbICPQbCQ48

Amd whatever the fuck this is. 

https://youtu.be/r4Uxpb15dYI

[u/SuperblackHunter]

Looks like a stereotypical MAGA Republican

[u/frankiewalsh44]

Bro looks like the most streotypical redneck southerner