Fifth of England and Wales councillors have been threatened, survey finds | Local government

More than a fifth of councillors have received death threats or threats of violence, a survey has found.

The survey has been released by the Local Government Association (LGA) before its annual conference next week. It is calling for more to be done to improve councillors’ safety.

Of the 1,734 people who responded – about 10% of all councillors in England and Wales – about half (49%) said the abuse had got worse over the past 12 months, while 73% had experienced abuse or intimidation in their role in the past year.

Councillors also said high levels of abuse, threats and misinformation online had put them off using social media or engaging with debate online.

The survey also found that:

• One in 10 councillors had someone come to their home in a way that they considered intimidating or inappropriate, and 43% had requested to withhold their home address from the public because of safety concerns.

• Ten per cent had received a threat of damage to their property, and 5% had experienced damage to property. Eleven per cent said they had considered modifications to their home security but had been unable to make them for financial or personal reasons.

The LGA is calling on the government to improve councillors’ safety, including by allowing them to withhold their addresses from publication and by establishing a permanent cross-Whitehall unit to monitor, assess and address the abuse and intimidation of locally elected politicians and candidates.

Marianne Overton, the chair of the LGA’s civility in public life steering group, said: “These results are troubling – not only do they highlight the concerns for the safety and wellbeing of councillors but show how violence and intimidation can be corrosive to our democracy, as they discourage people from taking up public office and from speaking fairly on vital issues.

“People must be able to represent their communities safely and without fear. We need cohesive communities that can debate differences in peace. Poor behaviour doesn’t just impact the individual, it hurts everyone in communities, reducing the opportunity for open debate on important local issues. This has got to stop.

“We need government to act decisively to ensure high levels of abuse do not become an accepted part of public life and that councillors are safe and confident as they carry out their vital elected role: working to represent their communities.”