Mayor tells of chainsaw death threats

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen shared his experience of abuse suffered by politicians

A Conservative Mayor has told of the death threats he has received, including being told he would get cut up with a chainsaw.

Ben Houchen, mayor of Tees Valley, said his wife had been left "absolutely petrified" to answer the door and police "haven't done anything" about it.

He said the abuse politicians faced was "unacceptable" and was driven by social media users "inciting" each other.

The BBC has contacted Cleveland Police for a response and the force said it was looking into the incidents.

'Credible threat'

Mr Houchen told BBC Politics North he felt police needed to be "firmer" about abuse suffered by politicians.

He added:"I mean, you can talk about free speech but ultimately, if we want a democracy where people are able to share different ideas in a civil manner, we need to have enforcement."

He said: "I've had people threatening to cut me up with a chainsaw.

"I've had Special Branch knock on my door late at night because of a credible threat against my personal safety.

"My wife answers the door and is absolutely petrified about what might or might not happen."

Meanwhile, new Labour MP Lewis Atkinson said it was "sobering" to receive a panic alarm on his first day of the job and Liberal Democrat candidate Natalie Younes said she had also suffered harassment and online abuse.

Natalie Younes says she had to block hateful online comments during the election campaign

Ms Younes, who stood for the North Northumberland seat at the general election, said she had suffered harassment and online abuse.

"It’s very easy for people to attack when there's such a strong online opportunity to do that from the safety of your own home," she said.

"We just had to block them."

Ms Younes said when she was knocking on doors the response was "generally quite good" but "it's not that person...It's those who are hiding at home making comments".

Lewis Atkinson, the Labour MP for Sunderland Central, said people should have access to their politicians

Mr Atkinson, who is the newly elected Labour MP for Sunderland Central, said all new MPs like himself had received safety advice and panic alarms when they arrived at Westminster.

"It's really sobering turning up on day one of the job and being issued with a panic alarm and being given advice saying don't publicise in advance if you're going to an event in the constituency because people can target it," he said.

"Our democracy rests on people having access to their politicians and while we might disagree on individual issues we should be able to go out and do our work."