Herts councillors speak of the abuse they've suffered doing their jobs
There are fears social media has made the problem worse
Following the tragic death of MP Sir David Amess - Hertfordshire councillors have been sharing details of some of abuse they've experienced.
Some have spoken of their family members being threatened, receiving anti-Semitic abuse - and even being shot at with an air rifle.
A number of leaders have committed to reviewing measures to ensure that nobody is at risk, while also making sure that residents have a chance to speak with their representatives.
Cllr Dan Ozarow (Labour, Borehamwood Kenilworth) was put into the national spotlight during a nasty by-election campaign in 2020, which included anti-Semitic abuse and messages to his family.
He said: “Anybody who’s in politics – especially in elected office – accepts there’s bound to be criticism from time-to-time, that’s what they do, opinions they hold or actions they perform. That’s part and parcel of politics and you have to some extent have a thick skin.
“However, there are very clear lines that must never be crossed.
“When you’re actually getting threats, when you’re actually getting harassment, when you’re actually getting your family members being threatened, and stuff like that, these are the kinds of things that some counsellors unfortunately have to put up with from time to time. I certainly did in the by-election campaign last year which was absolutely horrific.”
Cllr Ozarow added that while he was a victim of abuse, the “toxic” political climate meant that it could have happened to anyone standing for election, especially a by-election where no other elections were taking place.
He admits he “lived in fear” at times during the by-election campaign which included messages saying “go and die in the gas chambers”, threats to his unborn baby, and an attack ad with his face on was put up on a screen in the town centre, and he worried that “dehumanization” could have incited further attacks.
However, he says the story had a happy ending after being elected in Hertsmere in 2021, and he thinks his willingness to return and keep trying – he had previously lost an election after drawing lots – gained him respect from people on the doorstep.
He added: “When it all happened, I thought I can respond in one of two ways. I can either never come back -and it really occurred to me – and just quietly disappear, and go back to my family, focus on them and my full-time job.
“Or I can say, well, actually, I’m not going to accept this and I am going to stand again and make sure I get elected next time, and I’m also going to expose every single one of the people that did this to me, because this isn’t just about me, this is about anyone else who wants to stand, to kind of make the community a better place and standing for elected office is one way of trying to do that.”
Cllr Ozarow highlighted a report from the Local Government Association which found 48 per cent of councillors experienced some form of inappropriate behaviour, harassment or intimidation since being elected in May 2019, with 38 per cent saying they were “fearful” about abuse.
The leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, Councillor Morris Bright (Conservative, Elstree) also said that in his 22 years as a councillor he’s been “shot at with an air rifle, had a bin of waste tipped on my drive, had a swastika daubed on my door and a pig’s foot left on my front doorstep”, and said social media has seen a “whole new raft of angry and often venomous attacks” on those elected.
He added: “However, as worried and upset as I may have been at the time, especially when I had young children, I have never felt in very real danger and having always reported incidents to the police, I know how supportive our local constabulary are.”
Cllr Bright said while councillors have been accessible online during the pandemic, he would be working with the police to ensure that when surgeries and visits resume they can be done as safely as possible.
He added: “I would hate for local representatives, whether MPs or Councillors, to lose their ability to meet electors face to face as and when needed. I do not believe the late Sir David Amess would have wanted that. There is a balance to find and with the right will we will do so.
“I shall miss Sir David. He was a lovely man. We last shared a happy evening together at a resident’s 40th birthday party in Southend in the summer.”
Most councillors have said that they haven’t felt unsafe while doing their jobs, but following the death of MP Jo Cox in 2016 they have been more aware of the risks.
Leader of North Hertfordshire District Council, Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg (Labour, Hitchin Walsworth), also highlighted that a lot of women are choosing not to go into politics partly because of abuse on social media.
Cllr Dennis-Harburg said: “We see these interactions a lot of the time mainly, unfortunately, on social media which is probably one of the most invasive forms of communication that we have because it’s constantly with us, constantly on your phone and in your personal space.
“We do see a lot of commentary on there about these strange aliens-almost called councillors who are in it for themselves taking loads of public money, claiming expenses, never do never do anything good for the community, take brown envelopes from developers and, and a whole long list of all of the different horrible names that you could call any kind of human being, and that can be difficult to deal with.
“But I’m a millennial, I’ve grown up with social media and you come to expect trolling. It doesn’t make it okay, but you understand, you accept and you move on, he learned to nod and smile.”
She added that the council will be putting in measures in place following the incident, but it was vital to get on with the “beast part of the work” and speaking to residents.
Cllr Dennis-Harburg added: “Obviously when there is an incident like this it puts us all on guard, because this isn’t just an attack on one individual or one particular place, it’s an attack on every single person who is involved in democracy.
“It’s politicians, it’s the people that work with us, it’s our communities, and it’s absolutely not acceptable but for people at my level of democracy, there is no reason why we should be fearful, and why we shouldn’t continue going about and in doing our jobs.
“We are going to have police support at the next two community surgeries that we run in our towns, just for that added safety but my view is that we’re not in a place at this moment in time where that level of protection is necessary. It’s just something to help us feel a little bit safer, because we’ve all been shaken.”
Leader of St Albans District Council Councillor Chris White (Lib Dem, Clarence) also raised concerns about differences between men and women out campaigning.
He said: “I’ve never felt endangered on the doorstep, but then again I’m a man, there’s a massive difference. I’ll go into people’s houses – I don’t think most women would.”
He added in his experience most of the abuse is from people “hiding behind a keyboard”, and usually people are happy to see their councillors around St Albans, where they can discuss what work is going around the city.
The council hadn’t been informed about any need to change, although have said they’ve improved security around the civic centre in response to anti-vaccine protesters in recent weeks.
The elected Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor (Liberal Democrat), also said the borough council were reviewing if anything needs to be done to protect councillors, but in his experience canvassing has mostly been a positive experience and highlights the importance of being visible to residents.
Mr Taylor added: “From my perspective as elected Mayor, it’s fairly high profile, you do get stopped in the street all the time and 99 per cent of those conversations are really positive. When you’re outside the doorstep talking with residents they are really pleased to see you and talk about a whole range of issues.
“It was really shocking and sad what happened in Essex on Friday, and understandably people are concerned about keeping that balance – we want to make ourselves accessible and available to residents at the same time thinking about that when we go knocking on doors.
“I’ve been in situations where people have really strong emotions, they might be really angry about something, and we want to listen to them but at the same time, we want to make sure that the situation doesn’t escalate.”
He added that the police were reviewing the situation and guidance, but said that him and his colleagues would remain a visible presence across the borough.
For some, it was even more important to hold a surgery as usual over the weekend.
East Herts councillors Rosemary Bolton and Sue Barber (Conservative, Hertford Kingsmead) from Hertford Kingsmead continued with their scheduled Street Meet over the weekend, as a chance to speak to local people.
Cllr Bolton said: “We are democratically elected Councillors and it is important for us to talk to our residents and find out about local issues so that we can help out.
“The Street Meet was never about political campaigning, it was all about supporting and helping our community.
“After the tragic events on the 15th October we took advice from the police and other authorities and discussed our risk assessment plan.
“We felt strongly that we should proceed with the Councillor surgery. We have a job to do and we wish to carry on doing it. We knew that it was the right thing to do with safety procedures in place – our community is very important to us.”