Cheshire East councillors speak out after physical abuse and stalking incidents

Two female Cheshire East councillors have spoken of abuse they have suffered as politicians.

One was physically assaulted while campaigning and another was stalked on train journeys and later became targeted by an obscene caller and a troll.

High Legh councillor Kate Parkinson and Mobberley councillor Charlotte Leach both spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service about their ordeals to encourage others to speak out and report such incidents to the police.

Councillor Parkinson said she did not report her assault to the police because she felt too embarrassed at the time.

It is the first time she has spoken publicly of her ordeal, which happened when she was campaigning alone the day before the 2019 election.

"I was threatened by a resident. This person actually grabbed me and screamed in my face because I was a Conservative.

"He went ballistic, he started saying I'm a disgrace, disgusting," she said.

"He grabbed me by my clothes and he was just yelling in my face, he threatened me."

Cllr Parkinson said she went to the house next door, in complete shock, to continue campaigning and then just burst into tears.

"They [the neighbours] just took me in, they said, 'we saw what just happened'," she said.

The Cheshire East councillor also told how, when visiting a resident on council business, she was 'chased around the kitchen table by a man who got a little bit excited by the thought of someone younger and blonde as a councillor'.

She added: "I know there's always risks when we go and visit residents, but 99.9% of the time everyone is great. It's that 0.1% who take it too far. Suddenly you're in a position that could be dangerous."

Cllr Leach has had to get the police involved twice - once when she was being stalked on train journeys.

"I did have an incident just before the first lockdown, unfortunately, where someone was following me on trains, which I had the British Transport Police involved in, which was obviously quite frightening at the time," said the Conservative councillor.

"There was a certain person who sort of fixated on me. British Transport Police were great.

"When I have had to make reports to the police, they have taken it potentially more seriously than I expected them to."

Then, a few weeks ago, she received a call on her mobile at 6.45am. It was a sexually explicit call.

She called the police who have now located the man.

"If this sort of behaviour isn't tackled and we don't speak about it, as embarrassing as it can be at times, it could ultimately embolden people to escalate their behaviour," said Cllr Leach.

As well as abusive messages on social media, the Mobberley councillor has also had a Twitter troll who 'got quite personal at times'.

"Some of my friends who aren't involved in politics are quite shocked by the volume of abusive messages and incidents I've experienced," she said.

She added: "Most politicians, in my experience, are good people wanting to make their communities a better place."

She said she would encourage anybody who experiences any kind of abuse to speak out.