MPs fear future politicians being deterred by levels of abuse

Worsening levels of abuse are deterring future politicians from careers in parliament, a group of MPs have warned.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah, Rother Valley MP Jake Richards and ex-Dewsbury MP Mark Eastwood said women received more threats and abuse than male colleagues – and it was discouraging their staff from careers in politics.

The politicians made the claims after Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater told Radio 4 earlier this week that the level of abuse had increased since her sister Jo Cox was murdered by a far right terrorist in 2016.

Leadbeater said the level of “abuse and nastiness in politics” then was “nowhere near what it is like now”.

Richards, who worked on the prosecution of Cox’s killer as a junior lawyer, said the abuse had caused members of his parliamentary staff to reconsider careers in politics, which was “pretty shocking”.

He said: “We need people from all backgrounds and perspectives to get into public life and to represent us or we’ll go wrong politically.

“It’s not just about looking after MPs and not hurting feelings, it’s about how we make our politics work better.”

Shah, said since she was first elected to parliament in 2015, every election had got worse.

“Since the last election, those risks have gone up and public discourse on places like X exacerbates it,” she said.

“The kind of abuse that you get is magnified. I can’t see it stopping or retracting. I don’t have the confidence this is going anywhere.”

Earlier this month a man was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, for harassing Shah during her 2024 general election campaign.

Shah says: “Online threats and Islamophobia in particular, misogyny, racism, threats to life have become quite normal.

“It’s real horrible abuse. If you get a chance to look at X it’s a lot more, and I’ve stopped looking because it’s not good for my mental health.”

Shah said there had been moments when she feared for her life.

“Somebody sent me an email asking if I would like a bullet through my head or through my home. It was a number of years ago.

“At that point I felt there was a risk because I thought someone was outside my house so I had to move my children around midnight while the police came.”

She adds the intersection of race and gender made her more of a target than other MPs.

She says: “Lots of people don’t like politicians so you get hatred, but if you happen to then be female that’s an added bonus, and if you happen to be a female of colour that adds to it, and then if you happen to be a Muslim it’s even worse.

“I try not to think about it and get on with the day job.”

Ex-Dewsbury MP Eastwood, who lost his seat in last year’s election, said the worst thing about the abuse was how it affected friends and family.

He said: “I’ve had verbal abuse in the local pubs. On social media you get tonnes of abuse from keyboard warriors.

“The worst thing about it was the impact it had on my family who were looking at the social media posts or with me in the pub. That’s difficult and shouldn’t happen.”

But he said it had been worse for female colleagues and he feared that would put off women from standing in future.

“Political parties have got to try and temper their campaigning – the personal attacks on politicians from opposition parties. Everyone needs to take more responsibility,” he added.

I’ve been talking to politicians about this for over 20 years and they think it is getting worse.

Every time we interview an MP we have to be careful about where and when we’re doing it. Politicians have accepted it to an extent – but why should they? No-one should be going to work and getting death threats.

Some wouldn’t talk to me on camera about this – they say the abuse is so bad that being on TV talking about it would just make it worse. One told me that they’d been punched and another said the abuse contributed to them deciding to give up being an MP.

They’re worried about people being put off getting into politics, they’re worried about their families and members of staff and they’re worried about themselves.

Rother Valley MP Richards, who was first elected last year, said he had been shocked by how often the abuse had “gone well beyond what I deem to be acceptable”.

He said: “The online aspect of modern-day politics has made it far worse. When I am in parliament and you look on social media you get endless abuse frankly.

“There’s something about the online platforms and the anonymity it gives people that shows the worst side of public discourse.”

He agreed the abuse towards family, friends and staff members was the most difficult to deal with.

“When they’re not focusing on me, and my choices, and my politics, but when they’re focusing on my staff or my family, that’s a line I don’t think people should cross and too often it is being crossed at the moment,” he said.

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