Barnet Tories Defend Kemi Badenoch Adviser in London, 2026

Key Points

• The Barnet Conservatives have dismissed appeals by Barnet Labour Party to “remonstrate” against the support of Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, for Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a former neo-Nazi.
• In an open letter, Labour leader of the council Barry Rawlings asked opposition leader Peter Zinkin to demand that Badenoch discontinue using Bonehill-Paine as an advisor and to show disappointment in her regret for his decision to withdraw candidacy.
• Joshua Bonehill-Paine quit as a candidate for the local elections at the Somerset council after Kemi Badenoch offered him the position of an advisor in the party’s culture and integration commission that dealt with radicalization of young men.
• Bonehill-Paine had an exceptionally violent criminal history involving far-right ideology, and he was finally convicted of racial hatred after he had conspired to set ablaze the Talmud and desecrate Israeli flags in an antisemitic demonstration in Golders Green in 2015.
• In 2016, Bonehill-Paine was again jailed for two years for an extremely offensive campaign against Labour MP Luciana Berger who suffered antisemitic harassment from him on the Internet.
• Despite his defence by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch because of his having undergone deradicalization programmes organized by the government such as the Prevent one, the appointment has been roundly condemned as an insult by critics including Baroness Luciana Berger and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson.

London (Extra London News) August 7, 2026 – Barnet Conservatives have formally rejected urgent calls from the Labour group to remonstrate with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch following her decision to award an advisory role to a convicted former neo-Nazi. The political fallout centers on Joshua Bonehill-Paine, whose selection as a local election candidate in Somerset and subsequent transition into a high-level party advisory position has sparked national outrage and intense municipal friction.

Why Did Barnet Labour Send an Open Letter to the Conservatives?

The local political battle erupted after Barnet Council leader Barry Rawlings dispatched an open letter to opposition leader Peter Zinkin. As reported by David Floyd of the Barnet Post, Cllr Rawlings used the correspondence to heavily criticise Kemi Badenoch’s actions earlier in the week. Badenoch had initially defended the selection of Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a council candidate before subsequently offering him an advisory position when public pressure forced him to step down from running for office.

Cllr Rawlings demanded that Cllr Zinkin publicly “urge” Badenoch to cut ties with Bonehill-Paine and rescind his advisory post. Furthermore, Rawlings pressed the local opposition to display formal disapproval of Badenoch expressing public sadness that the extremist was no longer contesting an electoral seat. In response, as noted by David Floyd of the Barnet Post, opposition leader Peter Zinkin defended the conservative stance by stating that there were “genuine differences of opinion on this issue”.

What is Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s Criminal Background?

The controversy is underpinned by Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s extensive and documented history of far-right extremism and hate crimes. In June 2015, he was arrested and subsequently found guilty in December of that year for inciting racial hatred against Jewish communities, earning a prison sentence of three years and four months.

According to coverage by The Jewish Chronicle, the specific offenses that landed him behind bars included active plans to burn the Talmud and destroy Israeli flags during a planned demonstration in Golders Green. As highlighted by The Jewish Chronicle, the rally itself was aggressively promoted using imagery that directly mocked the Holocaust.

The severity of his criminal record escalated further in 2016 when he was sentenced to an additional two years imprisonment. This extra time was handed down following a protracted, malicious campaign of online antisemitic abuse directed squarely at Jewish Labour Member of Parliament Luciana Berger.

How Did Joshua Bonehill-Paine Target Luciana Berger?

During his targeted harassment campaign against Luciana Berger—who is now a member of the House of Lords—Bonehill-Paine utilized deeply offensive antisemitic tropes. As documented in court and reported across media outlets, he characterized Berger as “evil” and a “money-grabber,” while bizarrely and absurdly claiming she was personally responsible for the death of Jesus. He explicitly named his digital vitriol campaign against the serving parliamentarian “Operation Filthy Jew Bitch”.

Reflecting on the psychological toll of the ordeal following Bonehill-Paine’s 2016 conviction, Luciana Berger stated:

“The protracted campaign of vitriol and hate had a deep impact on me and my family.”

While serving his custodial sentences, Bonehill-Paine completed the Home Office-accredited ‘Healthy Identity Intervention Programme’ and successfully passed the government’s Prevent deradicalization initiative, subsequently involving himself in counter-extremism work.

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How Have Kemi Badenoch and Supporting Voices Defended the Appointment?

Despite his background, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch defended integrating Bonehill-Paine into the party ecosystem. Following public pushback against his initial candidacy for the Somerset council, Badenoch appointed him as an adviser to the party’s culture and integration commission, where his stated focus is advising on the radicalisation of young men.

As reported by Reuters journalists Alistair Smout, Muvija M, and Michael Holden for CTV News, Badenoch described Bonehill-Paine’s historical actions as “appalling,” but argued that he had completely disavowed his former ideology, achieved rehabilitation, and was fit to contribute positively.

“It’s not a national platform… This man is showing that he’s more than contrite,” Badenoch told the BBC, as cited by CTV News, adding that she aimed to build a broad movement against antisemitism in Britain and valued utilizing his experiences to counter extremism.

Political correspondent Ben Quinn of The Guardian noted that Badenoch expressed public sadness that Bonehill-Paine felt he “won’t be given the space to explain his position and represent his community”. Additionally, some commentators, such as Dave Rosenberg, suggested that while running for elected office was an inappropriate fit, drawing on the lived experiences of individuals who have exited extremist movements can theoretically aid counter-radicalisation efforts.

Why Are Victims and Political Critics Condemning the Decision?

The decision to elevate a former neo-Nazi who targeted a Jewish parliamentarian into a national advisory role has faced fierce, widespread condemnation from cross-party politicians and Jewish advocacy groups.

Reacting to the initial news of his council candidacy selection, Luciana Berger told the BBC:

“There is a big difference between going back into society and teaching others possibly about what you did and why it was wrong, to making the leap to standing for public office.”

Following the announcement that Badenoch had subsequently gifted him a national party advisory post, Baroness Berger took to social media platform X to voice her absolute outrage. As covered by The Guardian journalist Ben Quinn, Luciana Berger stated on X:

“The decision to welcome this individual as an adviser to the Leader of the Opposition is no better than allowing him to stand as a council candidate. It is a privileged and influential national role. As a victim of this man’s heinous crimes this appointment is an insult.”

Senior Labour figures similarly lambasted the leadership choice. Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minister and chair of the Labour Party, asserted that the entire affair “speaks volumes” regarding Kemi Badenoch’s political judgment. As quoted by The Guardian, Bridget Phillipson stated:

“It beggars belief that Kemi Badenoch was happy for a former neo-Nazi to stand in the first place. That she has gifted him a plum job further adds to that shame.”

Prominent communal organizations also voiced strong opposition. Leading advocacy bodies including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council firmly rejected direct outreach or meeting invitations extended by the Conservative Party to discuss Bonehill-Paine, issuing public calls for the leadership to fully rescind any association with him. While the Jewish Leadership Council welcomed his withdrawal from the local ballot, the wider institutional rejection of his party role underscores a deepening rift over how political parties vet candidates and handle individuals with histories of severe racial hatred.