Badenoch defends Tory candidate jailed over MP harassment

Tory leader under fire

The party leader faced awkward questions from reporters on Tuesday over the selection of Joshua Bonehill-Paine, insisting the Conservatives “believe in second chances”.

The controversy behind the candidate

Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2016 after being convicted of the racially aggravated harassment of Luciana Berger, then the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree.

He labelled the Jewish MP “an evil money-grabber” and had previously been jailed for producing an antisemitic advert illustrated with an image of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Speaking during a police raid in Surrey, as covered in The Guardian, Badenoch argued he had since been rehabilitated.

"I want to be very clear – and I think people can look at me and know that I'm not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis. Yes, he is somebody who had been previously convicted but he is someone who has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew that he had caused previously. And the Conservative party believes in second chances."

Kemi Badenoch

Badenoch said the candidate had been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and countering extremism.

The row is another unwelcome headline for a party still rebuilding after a turbulent run of recent Conservative prime ministers.