Yvette Cooper says ‘disgraceful scenes’ of election candidate abuse must end

An alarming rise in candidate intimidation during the UK’s general election campaign will be addressed next week at a meeting of ministers and civil servants, the home secretary has said.

Yvette Cooper said there had been “disgraceful scenes” in some areas in the run-up to the 4 July vote, as she announced she would chair a meeting of the defending democracy taskforce.

The government’s adviser on political violence, John Woodcock, told the Guardian on Sunday that “the growth in the UK of US-style politics of aggressive confrontation and intimidation … could lead to another assassination attempt on a UK politician” unless more was done to address their safety.

It also followed the attempted murder of Donald Trump on Saturday, which was condemned by world leaders including Keir Starmer.

Cooper said on Monday: “The recent general election campaign demonstrated some of the great strengths of our democratic traditions, including a smooth and peaceful transition of power from one party to another, but during this campaign we also saw an alarming rise in intimidation, harassment and abuse towards candidates, campaigners and volunteers from all parties, which simply cannot be tolerated.

“Some of those incidents are now being investigated by police. The disgraceful scenes we saw in some areas during this election campaign must not be repeated.”

Cooper said the taskforce, which was set up by the previous Conservative government and brings together ministers and experts, would meet to “make sure public safety, security and standards in our democracy can be upheld”.

The Home Office will carry out a rapid review of the election to gauge the levels of harassment faced by candidates, with police forces across the country investigating a number of cases, it is understood.

On Friday, Woodcock, who has the title Lord Walney, wrote to the home secretary suggesting a “short but systematic review” assessing the scale of the problem, and saying there had been a “concerted campaign by extremists to create a hostile atmosphere for MPs within their constituencies to compel them to cave into political demands”.

After the assassination attempt against Trump at the weekend, Woodcock said that in Britain and the US there were “some parts of our political debate that are deeply toxic and divided”.

Earlier this month Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, recounted how she, her family and supporters had been targeted in the run-up to polling day, saying that some people had sought to “deny” her Muslim faith.

Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, said she needed police protection after being subjected to death threats and voter intimidation. Stella Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, had a window and door at her office smashed days before the general election.

Jess Phillips used her victory speech in Birmingham Yardley to speak of repeated intimidation that she and campaigners had faced during the campaign.

Woodcock said that during the election campaign there had been some “deeply aggressive pro-Palestine campaigners seeking to single out and target [candidates], and that is an entirely separate thing to the expressions of protest on the streets”.

Diane Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, criticised Woodcock’s intervention in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying it was a “crude effort to demonise all those who support Palestinian rights”.

Reform UK accused the police of failing to protect its candidates on the campaign trail. Its leader, Nigel Farage, had a milkshake and other objects thrown at him by critics. The party claimed one candidate was “robbed, punched and kicked” in what it said was a “hate crime” and that another was told to “go home” by police while leafleting.