Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of levels of intimidation of candidates, agents and campaigners at (a) election hustings and (b) election counts.

Intimidation and abuse of those participating in public life has no place in our society and will not be tolerated.

MHCLG does not engage directly with candidates or collect wider information about those involved in elections' experience of harassment and intimidation. MHCLG’s role is to provides all candidates and returning officers with security guidance ahead of elections periods.

MHCLG does work closely with the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which leads on the cross-government response to harassment and intimidation, including work to evaluate its nature and scale, as well as with the police, Electoral Commission and Local Government Association, who also collect relevant information.

The government is also working with the Electoral Commission to develop an updated Code of Conduct for campaigning to set clear expectations for behaviour during election campaigns and guidance for the verifications and counts.