A row over a local council candidate reveals a deeper problem with the Tory leader’s diagnosis of her party’s electoral predicament
Kemi Badenoch has been clear about the qualifying criteria for prospective Conservative MPs. They must be “serious people who understand common sense,” she has said. The situation in local government is different, as demonstrated by Mrs Badenoch’s ill-judged support for a former neo-Nazi, selected to stand as a councillor in Somerset next year.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine has convictions for racially aggravated harassment of a Jewish Labour MP and assaulting a police officer among other offences. On Wednesday, as pressure grew on the party leader to repudiate him, he withdrew his candidacy.
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A row over a local council candidate reveals a deeper problem with the Tory leader’s diagnosis of her party’s electoral predicamentKemi Badenoch has been clear about the qualifying criteria for prospective Conservativ...
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