Is it ever okay to throw an egg at a candidate standing for election? Our recent research for the Electoral Commission explores the public view of that and other related questions….

Candidates at elections have been subject to increasing levels of abuse while campaigning in recent years. Recent Electoral Commission candidate research[1] found that 55% of respondents who were candidates in the 2026 English local elections reported experiencing harassment or intimidation, compared with 63% of respondents who were candidates in the Scottish Parliament election and 54% of respondents who were candidates in the Welsh Parliament election.

As part of its action in the area, the Commission identified a need to better understand the public’s views on the acceptability of the abuse and intimidation of candidates. It commissioned Community Research to engage with the public to provide a more in-depth exploration of this potentially sensitive and nuanced subject.

We knew that it would be hard to explore some of the nuance around people’s response to abuse and intimidation of candidates due to social norming. This is where people adjust their opinions, behaviours, or responses to align with what they perceive as the “norm” within a group or society to fit in, be accepted, or avoid conflict. With this in mind we designed a two-stage approach:

In an online written forum, around 80 participants shared their individual, anonymous views on the acceptability of a range of hypothetical scenarios highlighting abusive and intimidating behaviours towards candidates
They then went on to take part in an online discussion where they explored the topic of abuse and intimidation of candidates in small groups, exploring what made these behaviours more or less understandable.

The idea was that collecting views in a non-judgemental space, where pressure to conform was lowered, would allow a more honest view in the first instance.

It perhaps comes as no surprise that participants’ views of UK politics and the tone of political debate were overwhelmingly negative. Debate was seen as increasingly toxic, with social media developments and global tensions feeding into division. Within this climate, abuse and intimidation of candidates was widely recognised as an issue. However, these behaviours were not seen as unique to candidates; rather, they were viewed as part of a broader societal problem, with some participants sharing their own personal experiences of being subject to or witnessing abusive and intimidating behaviours, typically online.

The vast majority of participants took a hard line against abusive and intimidating behaviours towards candidates, and referencing a candidate’s ethnicity or sexuality emerged was a red line that should not be crossed. Certainly, participants were shocked at a hard hitting BBC News video further highlighting the issues. That said, reactions to our scenarios showed that participants’ views were more nuanced when it came to behaviours such as shouting at candidates in public meetings and even grabbing their arm when out canvassing. Participants often pointing to an increased sense of frustration amongst voters that they believed could boil over at times.

Our report describes some of the factors which participants felt make candidate abuse and intimidation more or less understandable. It also highlights how online abuse and intimidation, whilst never acceptable, is sadly becoming increasingly tolerated. The report further outlines participants’ suggestions for addressing the issues (many of which align with the Electoral Commission’s planned activity).

The Commission, ahead of the May elections, published a set of principles to guide campaigning, with a focus on maintaining respect, safety and honesty during robust debate and are now developing their approach to expand these into a full code of conduct. It is also developing democratic education materials and resources for teachers and young people and has recommended that social media companies should do more to tackle online abuse, and that the UK Government should set clear expectations and ensure they take action.

[1] Report on the 2026 England mayoral and local government elections | Electoral Commission

Report on the 2026 Senedd elections | Electoral Commission

Report on the 2026 Scottish Parliament election | Electoral Commission

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Public views on abuse of electoral candidates