Abuse of councillors and staff putting democracy at risk, say local government groups

Abuse towards people in local government is getting so severe it is putting democracy at risk, groups representing them have warned.

Examples include harassment, stalking, threats, assault, and even a dead rat being pushed through a letter box.

Some councils have put security plans in place to protect staff.

But many councillors have been put off from standing at the next local elections after facing abuse and intimidation, a survey found.

It follows recent warnings from the Jo Cox Civility Commission, external, which called for a central unit to address the abuse faced by all politicians.

There are around 100,000 councillors in local government at all levels - and more staff on top to support them. Councillors are responsible for taking decisions about social care, schools, housing and planning and waste collection.

Six bodies, representing local authorities at all levels in England and Wales, have warned abuse levels are unacceptably high and have called for change.

According to the Local Government Association (LGA), 27% of councillors said they would not stand in the next election, and two-thirds (68%) of respondents to a survey said abuse and intimidation had influenced their position on whether to stand again.

"If left unaddressed, abuse and intimidation risk forcing good councillors out of local politics altogether," said Councillor Marianne Overton, who chairs the LGA's Civility in Public Life Programme Steering Group.

"We are urging the government to introduce legislation that would allow a council to proactively withhold councillors' home addresses from the public as soon as is possible."

One parish clerk who has worked in the East Midlands for a decade faced a barrage of abuse in response to her job carrying out the decisions of the local council.

"It started with comments which became threats. Then I started getting dead animals left on my doorstep, with one dead rat pushed through the letter box," the clerk said.

"My daughter yelled, 'Mum there is a dead rat in the house!'.

"And then I knew straightaway what had happened. It was just horrific. But I didn't want my daughter to know what the significance was.

"A couple of summers later I was trapped in the council building with two men outside, live streaming to social media and shouting abuse at me. It was the most awful thing I've ever gone through."

Research carried out by academics at De Montfort University on behalf of the Association for Public Service Excellence suggests almost half of councillors have had a serious incident of abuse.

Data seen by the BBC shows 22% of councillors say their local authority received public abuse that was so severe they had to put in place an action plan to ensure someone's safety - such as involving the police or bringing in security.

Labour MP Clive Betts, who chairs the Commons local government committee, said he wanted to see urgent action before the next set of local elections in May.

He urged the government to put in place measures to protect councillors "suffering really bad abuse now" before working towards a more comprehensive package.

A government spokesperson said intimidation was "unacceptable".

"People who are elected or who volunteer in the local government sector help deliver vital services across the country and if they receive abuse they should contact the police."

Conservative county and borough councillor Clare Golby has experienced an online harassment campaign - based on what she says are conspiracy theories - and says she has found a swastika taped to her car in the past.

"I don't want to be Nuneaton's David Amess or Jo Cox, so I don't do face-to-face surgeries any more," she said - a reference to two MPs who were murdered in 2016 and 2021.

She added: "I don't like leaving meetings alone or going to the car park alone. I need people with me. I don't like my kids coming to public events or the carnival with me, my husband is worried what if someone has a go at me?"

Ms Golby said the police cannot always help.

"The law says it is political discourse. But when you're on the receiving end it's not. It is abuse, harassment and stalking."

Statistics on abuse targeted at people in local government are not formally collected but many people the BBC spoke to fear it is escalating.

"Things have got noticeably worse since the pandemic," said Ms Golby.

Another councillor said one member of the public sent him and other councillors so much abuse on social media they were sentenced to three years in prison for persistent harassment and stalking.

"I used to be a doorman - but the abuse I get as a councillor can feel worse," said Richard MacRae, an independent town and district councillor for Stapleford, near Nottingham.

"When I worked on the doors I had people with machetes, guns and knuckle dusters. But as a councillor it is personal. It follows you home and it gets to you."

Other councillors we spoke to in England and Wales told us they had received death threats. One received messages specifying how they would be stabbed when they left the office. The abuse was so relentless he was forced to install panic alarms at home.

The BBC has also spoken to people in local government in Scotland - who say they have faced abuse aimed to intimidate them and shut down debate.

Even parish councillors, who administer allotments, street lights, and deal with planning on a local level, see abuse. Most of them represent communities of less than 2,500 people.

"I've had clerks phone me saying, 'I can't go into the office, I'm so frightened'," said Linda Hedley, general secretary of the Association of Local Council Clerks - a trade union representing people working in local councils.

"I've had clerks who have been so harassed, bullied and frightened that they've had nervous breakdowns.

"The culture is toxic at times. I think it's a misunderstanding of what parish and town councils can and can't do."

"I received multiple abusive phone calls in the middle of the night," said one former chair of a parish council in the East Midlands.

Eventually it became too much.

"My family was begging me to stop, they could see the effect it was having on me. Now I live outside of the area."

Watch the story on BBC Newsnight on BBC Two at 22:30 GMT and on BBC iPlayer.

Additional reporting: Ellie Jacobs