Kemi Badenoch gives former neo-Nazi advisory role after he withdraws as Tory candidate

Joshua Bonehill-Paine says Conservative leader has asked him to work with party’s culture and integration commission • UK politics live – latest updates A former neo-Nazi activist who was convicted of harassing a Jewish MP has withdrawn as a Conservative election candidate after Kemi Badenoch offered him a role as an adviser to the party. Joshua Bonehill-Paine said on Wednesday that he had withdrawn from next year’s local elections, and that the Conservative leader had instead asked him to become an adviser to her party’s culture and integration commission, where he will specifically focus on how young men become radicalised. Badenoch, who has come under pressure in the last 48 hours from individuals and organisations including the the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said she was “sad” that Bonehill-Paine felt he “won’t be given the space to explain his position and represent his community”. Among Tory voters, 28% thought the selection was acceptable – half the proportion who branded it unacceptable (57%).

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