‘I got my first death threat before I was elected’

Heather Williams received her first death threat before she was even elected. South Cambridgeshire District Council member says abuse got even worse. Government has committed £31m to improving safety and security for all elected representatives. So, with local elections coming, what is it like on the front line?

She now leads the Conservative group on the council. She has security protocols in place for her and her primary-school-aged daughter. According to the Local Government Association (LGA), in 2023, 82% of councillors felt at risk at least some of the time while fulfilling their role. Festus Akinbusoye, 45, said he still has flashbacks to the phone call.

Panache Muir, 31, from Stilton near Peterborough, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated stalking. Bedfordshire Police was concerned for their safety after it received a report of abuse. Mr Akinbusoye has spent thousands on security and drives different routes home. A sentencing hearing is due on 19 April.

The government said the £31m it has committed would allow all elected representatives and candidates to have a dedicated named police contact to liaise with about security. Elisa Meschini, 41, is the Labour deputy leader of Cambridgeshire County Council. Her partner has seen some of the abusive material she has been sent. She did not receive much abuse until the summer of 2022, when she began putting forward the arguments for a congestion charge in Cambridge.

Ms Meschini, who is Italian, challenged the person responsible for it, who told her #34;it#39;s just a joke. She felt the online world isn’t regulated as much as it should be, and was a ‘free for all’ South Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat, Peter McDonald, 62, said councillors needed to be #34;completely embedded in our communities. But that also made them vulnerable, he said. The                Online Safety Act, which became law in October, aims to bring a new era of internet safety, according to the government.

Mr McDonald said he hoped more awareness of the role of local government and education about how to interact online might help reduce the amount of abuse. BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 17 March at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc. co.

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