How common is harassment among political candidates in the UK? Collignon and Rüdig (2020) show that four in ten candidates faced harassment in the 2017 election, with women and younger candidates facing the highest risk.
Using political violence to reach political goals has long been a serious concern. While people once thought this problem only happened in countries with high levels of violence overall, recent evidence shows that the harassment and intimidation of political figures in the UK is far more common than previously assumed.
Drawing on survey data from candidates who ran in the 2017 general election, Collignon and Rüdig found that four out of every ten candidates experienced at least one form of harassment. The evidence also indicates that women and young candidates are more likely to deal with harassment and intimidation. To close, the authors lay out a roadmap for future research, pointing especially to the need to examine how people perceive harassment and how it shapes political careers.
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Collignon, S., & Rüdig, W. (2020). Harassment and Intimidation of Parliamentary Candidates in the United Kingdom. The Political Quarterly, 91(2), 422–429. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12855