Councillor felt 'terrified' after being targeted

A councillor said she felt "terrified" and increased security at her home after being targeted by campaigners.

Labour's Beth Jones said she received 150 telephone calls in the space of a few hours, then was later repeatedly heckled and interrupted during a council meeting.

"I'd reached a point where I felt really quite unsafe," said Jones.

She spoke following a vote by Norwich City Council to back the "Debate not Hate" campaign, which began following a rise in cases of councillor intimidation.

The campaign is run by the Local Government Association (LGA), which said almost three quarters (73%) of councillors it surveyed had experienced intimidation or abuse in the past year.

Jones, the council's cabinet member for housing and community safety, said she became the focus of a group after a housing decision was made by the authority, which she said she had no involvement in.

It began with dozens of phone calls and later escalated to her being confronted during a meeting.

"There was a real implication in the way they said, 'You must comply by this date.'

"I felt really quite terrified."

She said she feared the situation could escalate, particularly after being physically attacked in her day job as a nurse.

"To some people, they might feel I was overreacting, but when you've already experienced workplace violence it's something that you're very conscious of."

Jones said after raising concerns about her security with the council, extra locks and a doorbell camera were added to her home.

Earlier this year, a BBC investigation found some councils had increased security to protect elected officials and staff.

The LGA, which represents local authorities, said 27% of councillors said they would not stand for re-election.

At the most recent full meeting of Norwich City Council, members voted unanimously to sign up to the LGA's "Debate not Hate" campaign, which aims to support those in public life facing abuse.

Charlie Caine, who represents the Greens, said councillors from all sides had suffered harassment, with "vile lies" also spread online.

"If you haven't been targeted for abuse, you're one of a minority of councillors both locally and nationally," he added.

Caroline Ackroyd, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said abuse online or in the street was "becoming the norm".

Jones, who suggested the council supported the campaign by putting it forward for a vote, said she was pleased her motion had received cross-party support.

"If we start expecting people to tolerate this level of threat and intimidation, you start getting the wrong kind of people being councillors," she said.

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