Cllr Clare Golby is a councillor on Warwickshire County Council and a former councillor on Nuneaton and Bedworth Council
As an elected local councillor, I understood that public service would come with its challenges. I expected to face tough decisions, constructive criticism, and to be held accountable for the choices I made in office. What I didn’t anticipate, however, was the relentless abuse I would face for simply doing my job—abuse that came not just from the public but on occasion from other councillors too.
In the age of social media, an online mob can form in an instant, and I’ve experienced first-hand how quickly it can spiral out of control. Earlier this year, I found myself at the centre of a storm of misinformation, public outrage, and malicious attacks. You might have seen it.
What started as a standard council scrutiny meeting discussing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) funding ended with a six-month ordeal, my reputation in tatters, a viral TikTok video which amassed millions of views, a Change.org petition with over 30,000 signatures calling for my dismissal, and more hate mail than any person should have to endure. I even had to mothball my new comms business because activists and others infiltrated my professional networks.
A smear campaign was also shamelessly used by Labour and other political parties in the run-up to, and during, the local elections in May where I lost my borough council seat by five votes, (although I remain a Warwickshire County councillor). I simply couldn’t compete with activists telling residents I hated disabled kids.
The irony in all of this is that in the County council meeting, I had raised genuine concerns, discussed financial implications, and asked pertinent questions, ironically not even about SEND children but about the Education and Health Care Plan system and those children who fall outside of that system but still need help. Yet, a local SEND activist, armed with a TikTok account, twisted the context of my words triggering a nationwide smear campaign. The comments I made were selectively edited and turned into something which didn’t resemble reality. This of course led to an avalanche of complaints to Warwickshire County Council and an investigation. The Council appointed an external legal investigator to examine the validity of the accusations.
What followed was nothing short of a witch hunt. The leader of the council gave multiple conciliatory interviews which just served to embolden the very people who were baying for my head. The media jumped in with sensationalist headlines, and before I knew it, I was branded a villain and having abuse shouted at me in the street. I was also reported to, and investigated by, the police for hate speech.
I am not the first councillor to face this type of abuse, and I won’t be the last.
Ironically, the day before the story became viral, I was featured on Newsnight talking about bullying and harassment of people in local government, little did I know I was on the precipice of receiving the vilest abuse, threats, and harassment I have ever experienced.
According to the Local Government Association, two-thirds of councillors have faced abuse and intimidation, and a growing number are deciding not to stand for re-election because of it. The chair of the Civility in Public Life Programme warned that this issue, if left unchecked, could push good people out of local politics altogether. I would go further and say it WILL push good people out. But when will we stand up and say, “enough is enough”?
It’s not just councillors who suffer. The abuse we face online spills into real life. My family has been harassed, my children bullied, and my mental health taken a severe hit. I was forced to withdraw from public life for a time, bombarded by threats of violence. The police had to step in and provide me with protection equivalent to that of an MP due to the very real risks identified.
Even so, the law as it stands offers little protection, saying this is all part of political discourse. When you’re on the receiving end, it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like, and is, abuse, harassment, and at times, stalking.
What’s more infuriating is the lack of support from the Conservative Party. The moment the mob starts to circle, you’re on your own. The party will distance itself from you faster than you can blink. How can we get support when the first steps some in the party take is to try and find a way to kick you out?
Innocent until proven guilty? Once the mob du jour has chosen its target, you’re presumed guilty. No trial, no jury—just swift, public execution of your character to try and appease the baying placard-waving crowd. The message was clear: you are expendable.
Margaret Thatcher once said, “Appeasement is not the answer; it only leads to greater demands.” Some in our party would do well to remember this. Create a monster and eventually it will come for you too.
And what is the result? A chilling future where fewer and fewer capable individuals are willing to step into roles in public life. The complete dumbing down of democracy.
As our party starts to rebuild after the General Election, we need to have a serious conversation about what this means. Local elected representatives are supposed to scrutinise, challenge, and ask difficult questions. The truth is sometimes uncomfortable yet, in today’s climate, speaking uncomfortable truths is not allowed. Doing so can lead to personal attacks which cross the line from political disagreement into something much more sinister.
The mob du Jour may not always like what is said, but, notwithstanding the recent slew of people being locked up over Facebook & X posts, we are supposed to live in a free and democratic society, a cornerstone of which is freedom of speech. Without this, our democracy is at risk of being drowned out by keyboard warriors and placard-waving activists.
Thousands believed the lies about me, and I, along with my family, paid the price – but this isn’t just about me, this whole ordeal should send a clear message to every local councillor: speak your mind, and we will come for you.
And what of the 6-month long investigation into my comments? Apart from it costing the taxpayers of Warwickshire £30,000, the investigation report rightly concluded that the heavily edited TikTok video, which grossly misrepresented my comments, had indeed caused much of the outrage as it had omitted the crucial context of my words. When the full context of my conversation was included, the meaning was quite different . It found no evidence to support ANY of the complaints. The police ‘Hate Speech’ investigation concluded the same, a huge waste of time and resource. Change.org also removed the 30,000+ signature petition due to its incorrect and defamatory nature but for me it was all too little too late.
So, the next time you read about a councillor being “cancelled” by an online mob, I urge you to pause and think. Ask yourself: What’s the full story? Are we letting democracy be ruled by capitulation to the loudest voices rather than the most reasoned ones? And if you do trip up over that invisible line, should you expect to be hounded into silence – because if we continue down this path, we may lose more than just a few councillors—we might lose the very essence of democracy itself.