People Find Abuse More Acceptable When Directed At Politicians

A new opinion survey has found that people think threatening or abusive behaviour is more acceptable when directed at politicians, rather than ordinary members of the public.

The Electoral Commission surveyed 6,000 people across the UK in February of this year as part of its annual public opinion tracker, with the full results to be published in June.

For most age groups, intimidating behaviour – such as mocking or posting offensive comments on social media, using "foul language", or verbally mocking or threatening in public – was found to be more acceptable when directed at a politician rather than a member of the public.

Mocking politicians on social media was the most acceptable of the behaviours tested across all age groups. Around 46 per cent of young people (aged 34 and under) found this an acceptable means of interacting with MPs, compared with around 10 per cent finding it acceptable to mock other members of the public online.

The study found that younger age groups were consistently more likely than older age groups to find threatening and abusive behaviours directed at politicians acceptable. For instance, 25 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds found using “foul language” to address politicians acceptable, compared to four per cent of 65 to 74 year olds.

But all age groups saw mocking politicians in public as more acceptable than making offensive posts about them on social media – revealing a confidence among the public to confront MPs in public, not just online.  

With a general election scheduled for 4 July, MPs will be knocking on doors up and down the country, campaigning for votes. However, MPs and candidates are growing increasingly concerned about their own safety, with attacks on politicians becoming more frequent