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Inquiry · Opened 18 December 2024

Speaker’s Conference on the security of candidates, MPs and elections

From: Speaker's Conference (2024)

Open28 documents16 evidence sessions

What this inquiry is asking

This inquiry investigates why MPs, candidates, and election staff face escalating threats and abuse, and whether current security arrangements, policing, criminal justice, and online regulation are fit for purpose. It examines systemic gaps in protection during elections and parliamentary operations, and makes recommendations to secure free and fair elections and safe democratic participation.

Status / emerging findings

  • Police response to threats against MPs and candidates is inconsistent across forces; only 25% of 2024 general election candidates engaged with security briefings, exposing major vulnerability gaps.
  • Online abuse has reached crisis levels: 80% of MPs experienced abuse on X, 77% on Facebook versus 15% on Instagram; X's enforcement compliance dropped from 95-96% pre-acquisition to 45% post-Musk takeover.
  • Social media platforms deploy significantly more resources during elections than routine periods; Meta's 40,000 safety staff contrast starkly with X's more limited approach, yet abuse persists across both.
  • Criminal justice system treats MP abuse inconsistently: sentencing guidelines recognise aggravating factors, but non-harassment and disqualification orders are rarely applied unless explicitly requested.
  • Government accepted recommendations on Online Safety Act enforcement, centralised policing, and candidate awareness but response on some legislative gaps (doxing, pile-on harassment) remains uncertain.

Why it matters

Without effective security for candidates and MPs, people will self-exclude from democratic participation; social media abuse is now a structural barrier to electoral legitimacy and equal candidacy.

Tone arc

Inquiry opened procedurally, documenting threat levels; shifted adversarial during Meta/X evidence (July 2025) when enforcement failures emerged; became cooperative with police and CPS who acknowledged inconsistency and accepted centralisation case; hardened again at Ofcom hearing (September 2025) over persistent gaps between regulatory powers and platform compliance.

Themes

online-abuse-platformspolice-inconsistency-centralisationsocial-media-enforcementelection-candidate-securitycriminal-justice-sentencing

Key witnesses

Gavin Stephens (National Police Chiefs Council), Kanishka Narayan (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology), Mark Bunting (Ofcom), Claire Dilé (Meta), X representative (unnamed in summary), Dame Diana Johnson MP (Crown Prosecution Service), Dan Jarvis MP (Security Minister), David Hughes (PA News, Lobby chairman)

Reports & Government Responses

Witness sessions

Written evidence & correspondence

Themes & actors

Topics across publication summaries

safeguarding ·8candidate-safety ·5elections ·4data-protection ·3democracy ·3election-security ·3criminal-justice ·3online-safety ·3social-media-regulation ·3parliamentary-security ·3law-enforcement ·3privacy ·3electoral-law ·3online-abuse ·2curriculum ·2political-violence ·2public-safety ·2harassment-intimidation ·2policing ·2electoral-integrity ·2

Top organisations & named entities

Source · parliament.uk inquiry record ↗

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