UK police will be better equipped to protect candidates from abuse, intimidation, and violence under new measures announced ahead of the May local and devolved elections.
A new national police unit will be established this month to target offenders who threaten and harass election candidates ahead of the May elections. It will bring together specialist officers and intelligence experts to monitor reports of abuse from across the country — identifying repeat offenders and helping police forces build stronger cases against them.
The unit builds on a system already in place to protect MPs, expanding protection to people standing for elected office, News Cover reports, citing the UK government's official website.
It forms part of a raft of new measures to crackdown on the abuse of elected officials, set out by the Security Minister in Parliament.
Candidates standing for election to the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament will now receive the same dedicated police support as those contesting other elections, as Operation Ford is widened. A network of dedicated police officers remains in place in all forces across the country ready to support the local elections and provide security briefings for candidates.
New and strengthened guidance will also be issued to frontline officers, with greater clarity on how to respond to incidents involving politicians. To reinforce this, the Security Minister has written to the chair of the National Police Chief’s Council to remind chief constables of the wide range of powers available and urged them not to hesitate to use them to protect candidates.
