Former neo-Nazi quit as Tory candidate after JN raised concerns over Home Office police training claim

Joshua Bonehill-Paine quit as a Tory council candidate hours after Jewish News pressed the Conservative Party over Kemi Badenoch’s claim he had been Home Office accredited to train police officers on antisemitism.

Amid mounting anger over the convicted neo-Nazi’s selection, the Tory leader had attempted to defend the decision, telling reporters: “Josh has actually been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and countering extremism.”

She added that he had shown remorse and was now working to address the harm he once caused: “He’s travelling around the country training people, and the Conservative Party believes in second chances.”

But multiple sources told Jewish News that no such certification was ever granted.

Jewish News had approached the Tory Party and the Home Office for comment on their claims early on Wednesday.

Later in the  afternoon, Bonehill-Paine confirmed he has withdrawn his candidacy. In a post on X, Bonehill-Paine said he needed to “show the Jewish community how much I regret my previous actions”.

Conservative leader Badenoch said she was “sad” that Bonehill-Paine “won’t be given the space to explain his position and represent his community”.

She added that he would now work with the Conservatives on tackling radicalisation as part of the party’s culture and integration commission.

Badenoch added: “If we are going to stop extremism and antisemitism, we are going to need help from those people who were part of the problem, but have now changed and are being part of the solution. Piling on them and trying to get them cancelled may be sport for other parties, but this is a different Conservative Party.”

Jewish News had earlier established that Bonehill-Paine—a former far-right activist convicted of inciting racial hatred after creating and distributing Nazi imagery for a planned ‘Jewification’ rally in Golders Green, north London—had not been authorised by the Home Office to deliver training to police officers, schools, or universities.

One senior communal source also confirmed they had held discussions with several senior police leaders across the country, none of whom could confirm that Bonehill-Paine delivered Home Office-backed training sessions on countering antisemitism.

Instead, Jewish News understands that Bonehill-Paine took a His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Healthy Identity Intervention Programme while in prison, designed to address the psychological and social factors impacting individual engagement and involvement in extremism.

When asked by Jewish News about Home Office certification, Bonehill-Paine did not confirm government approval to “train police officers on antisemitism and countering extremism,” as Badenoch claimed.

“I can talk about the training; this is typically given by other former extremists and Prevent leads,” he said, adding: “I was required to undertake Prevent courses, for which I have certification.”

Asked why he was qualified to discuss antisemitism, Bonehill-Paine added: “When giving talks and educating against antisemitism and extremism, the demonstration is in my mindset: 1) how I became antisemitic 2) how I stopped being antisemitic.

“There is also teaching about certain signs, symbols and code words used by extremists. Sessions can often be tailored to the group’s request if they wanted something specific, whether security or just ideology. They all form around my story though, so that participants are given a genuine first-hand account.”

Sources revealed that Bonehill-Paine has worked with a charity addressing extremism alongside some local authorities, but emphasised that this is “very different” from being Home Office approved.

The former far-right activist told Jewish News he had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and could not disclose the organisations he had worked with.

At his 2016 trial it was detailed how he wrote several blog posts about Labour peer Berger, who was the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, in which he described her as “an evil money-grabber” with a “deep-rooted hatred of men”.

In one post, he claimed the number of Jewish Labour MPs was a “problem”.

He was previously jailed for producing an advert illustrated with a picture of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz which promised “an absolute gas” at a rally in Golders Green, north London.

Bonehill-Paine’s selection to contest the Crewkerne South ward in Somerset next May prompted a storm of criticism from Jewish groups and opposition politicians.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council called for the party to change course, while Labour peer Baroness Berger said he should not have “any role in public life – because of both his racism and his view of women”.

 Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of Lady Berger, who is Jewish.

He had previously been jailed for producing an advert for a neo-Nazi rally illustrated with a picture of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz which promised “an absolute gas”.

He has since apologised for his past offending and said he has dedicated himself to “challenging the wave of hatred British Jews continue to face”.