A former neo-Nazi selected by the Conservatives to fight a council election next year has pulled out after a backlash against his candidacy. Joshua Bonehill-Paine has withdrawn his bid to run as a Conservative candidate in a Somerset council election scheduled for next year.
Bonehill-Paine has a documented criminal record, including a jail sentence for distributing antisemitic material in connection with a planned neo-Nazi rally. Additionally, he was convicted a year later for the racially aggravated harassment of former Labour MP Luciana Berger.
Prior to his withdrawal, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch had publicly defended the party's decision to select him as a candidate. Badenoch stated at the time that the party "believes in second chances."
Explaining his decision to step down, Bonehill-Paine stated that he chose to withdraw because he expected opposition parties to "spend all their time focusing on my past."
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