Millions Vote in UK Local, Scottish and Welsh Elections

The Green party described this year’s contest as the worst in memory. A Green party spokesperson said some candidates received death threats, were yelled at or chased down the street, and that several withdrew from campaigning in certain areas because of harassment.

Security minister Dan Jarvis said anyone engaging in this sort of behaviour is directly attacking our democracy and we all must do more to stop it becoming normalised. Incidents crossed party lines. Nigel Farage criticised Elon Musk in April after Musk highlighted abuse directed at Reform UK candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds on X.

Richard Parker, the Labour mayor of the West Midlands, told the BBC he was threatened and followed while campaigning in Coventry this week. The Scottish Trades Union Congress issued a statement condemning reports of increased racial and Islamophobic harassment of candidates ahead of the Scottish parliament elections.

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said online discourse had become increasingly toxic.

In Birmingham, two separate incidents in April targeted Green party candidate Hanooshi Hassan. While leafleting at a mosque on Dudley Road he was accosted by campaigners supporting an independent group. Hassan said one individual threatened to beat him up and the group repeatedly called the Green party "the gay party" and accused it of wanting to turn their children gay.

West Midlands police confirmed it received two reports of alleged harassment on 17 and 24 April on Dudley Road; enquiries remain ongoing. Independent candidate Bishop Desmond Jaddoo, also campaigning in Birmingham, said he faced sustained racial abuse that mainly occurred online.

Olivia Field, chief executive of the Jo Cox Foundation, said too many candidates, their families and their teams from all sides of the political spectrum have experienced abuse, harassment and threats during this year’s elections. She added that this represents one of the biggest threats to the functioning of our democracy.