A cross-party Speaker’s Conference has published findings that should alarm anyone who cares about democracy: 96% of MPs surveyed have experienced abuse, and nearly half their staff have felt unsafe as a result. The Electoral Commission has agreed to develop a campaigning code of conduct ahead of the May 2026 local elections.
These numbers are staggering. We are not talking about robust criticism or heated debate — we are talking about death threats, stalking, physical intimidation, and sustained campaigns of harassment against people who chose to serve the public.
The Social Media Sewer
Much of this abuse originates online, where anonymity and algorithmic amplification create a toxic brew. Female MPs and those from ethnic minorities report disproportionately severe abuse. The murder of Jo Cox in 2016 and the fatal stabbing of Sir David Amess in 2021 should have been watershed moments. They weren’t.
A code of conduct for campaigning is welcome but woefully insufficient. What’s needed is a fundamental rethink of how we protect elected representatives while keeping them accessible to the people they serve. That means proper funding for constituency office security, faster police response to threats, and genuine consequences for online abuse.
The Talent Drain
The real cost of this crisis isn’t measured in security spending — it’s measured in the calibre of people who decide public life simply isn’t worth the risk. Every threatened MP who stands down, every potential candidate who thinks better of it, diminishes our democracy.