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For the first time, all general election candidates will be offered basic security during the campaign, PoliticsHome understands.
The offering includes guidance, briefings and cyber security services. Any requests for additional security for candidates will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Previously it was only MPs seeking re-election, with existing security measures maintained, but this is the first time that services will be available to any candidate seeking election.
The decision comes after growing concerns about the safety of politicians in recent years.
In March, Rishi Sunak took the unusual step of using a Downing Street speech to condemn extremists who were trying to ‘undermine’ British democracy. His warning came at a time of heightened tensions over the war in Gaza, with the prime minister describing Islamists and the far right as “two sides of the same extremist coin.”
In February, police were given the authority to expand Operation Bridger, the code name for the police’s nationwide protective security operation, to increase the security of MPs. Under this, all candidates have access to a dedicated police contact in each force to raise concerns or threats against them and be informed of security issues.
The homes of both Sunak and Labor leader Keir Starmer have been targeted by protesters in recent months.
Female politicians such as Conservative candidate Caroline Nokes and Labor shadow minister Lisa Nandy have publicly raised concerns about their safety following rape and death threats. Many female MPs now avoid campaigning alone.
Since 2016, two MPs Jo Cox and David Amess have been murdered.
These concerns about the safety of politicians continue ahead of the July 4 general election.
Last weekend, the Labor Party’s constituency offices in London’s Chingford and Woodford Green constituencies were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in response to the party’s exclusion of Faiza Shaheen as a candidate.
The news that security would be extended to all candidates for the first time was welcomed by Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption. Last month, his report ‘Protecting our Democracy from Coercion’ identified a trend of rising extremism in British politics, which is “systematically seeking to undermine faith in our parliamentary democracy and the rule of law”.
Speak with PoliticsHome, the colleague said: “It is welcome that the system has now been introduced to provide that extra level of protection for candidates during what could be a peak and contentious election period. It underlines the seriousness of the situation that these measures are necessary.”
However, Conservative candidate Tobias Ellwood, whose home was targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters in February, said he was concerned that candidates with limited experience of running in general elections will not know how to take advantage of the security now in place for is available to them. .
“I’m sure if anyone tried anything with me, I could handle it. But there will be many candidates who don’t know anything about this and how to respond if you are inexperienced. That’s where the disruption could really be quite significant,” said Ellwood, who is seeking re-election in Bournemouth East.
A Labor figure seeking re-election in London said the security provided to them by Operation Bridger was “a joke” and that the candidates were in a “terrible situation”.
They said PoliticsHome: “I never had any security. I have never had a risk analysis. They are waiting for someone to attack you and then maybe they will do something about it.”
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