"I am coming for you and your family": Sheffield politicians sent shocking death threats and abuse

The collection of abusive and threatening messages sheds light on the scale of frightening vilification of local councillors since 2022, culminating in a death threat made in a phone call in July 2023.

In emails obtained by The Star, the targeted councillor reported: “I answered a call from a private number I asked for the caller's name, he said it is [name], but did not give a surname. He went on to say, ‘I am coming for you and your family’. I asked why and he said for calling this number. I said no you called me on a private number. He then said ‘anyway you can get ready you are a dead man’.

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“I have never given anyone cause to threaten me and my family in this way, but I feel that I must make you aware of this.”

The report reveals the call was quickly reported to South Yorkshire Police and it was logged.

A Freedom of Information Request submitted by The Star revealed Sheffield City Council had no data recorded for these incidents in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Councillor Ben Miskell, deputy leader of Sheffield Labour and chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “It is a privilege to be a councillor and to help support people in our city. But it is true that over recent years we have sadly seen a rise in abuse and threats made nationally against elected representatives.

“When anyone receives any kind of threat, we act on any information. Everyone has the right to feel safe and do their job without being threatened in any way, which is why as a council we have signed up to the national Debate Not Hate campaign. This aims to raise public awareness of the role of councillors in their communities, encourage healthy debate and improve the responses and support for local politicians facing abuse and intimidation."

The earliest messages The Star obtained went back to the Spring and Summer of 2022, when one councillor reported social media was awash with racist abuse directed at them for their support of active travel measures.

February 2023 marked the first recorded threatening message regarding the implementation of Sheffield’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ). The messages resulted in daily harassment forcing the councillor to block the person sending them.

The report said: “I wanted to make you aware that last weekend I received an enquiry from a member of the public, Mr [Name], regarding 15 minute neighbourhoods, to which I replied. Mr [Name] then emailed me regarding the Clean Air Zone, including demanding that I "call him if I dare", which I took as a threat and have not responded. Mr [Name] has emailed me every day this week demanding a response - I do not intend to do so and will be blocking his emails.”

“I hope nothing happens to councillors.”

It was enough for Sheffield City Council to send out “personal safety advice” to councillors due to “an increase in hostility” in messages received by elected politicians of all parties.

It urged councillors to be “particularly vigilant” over their own safety and to report anything they were concerned about in the lead-up to the CAZs start date.

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In 2024, one year following the start of the CAZ, it was confirmed how the scheme had been a “huge success”. Nitrogen dioxide pollution levels were down 16 per cent in Sheffield city centre and 21 per cent across the city as a whole.

Then, late in March 2023, multiple councillors reported receiving threatening phone calls from people asking for the personal information of council staff and making menacing comments about elected representitives.

One report of the calls read: “A man called me on my councillor phone from a withheld number regarding the CAZ.

“The man had a West Midlands accent & is purportedly calling regarding GDPR and details being passed to third parties for debt collection. He is asking for officers' information & making threats that he ‘hopes nothing will happen to Councillors’.”

It is a shocking local example of a concerning trend gaining national attention. Following the General Election on July 4, Labour MPs Jess Phillips and Shabana Mahmood made sobering victory speeches sharing the intimidation and harassment they faced during the campaign.

Another Labour MP, Rushanara Ali, needed police protection during her campaign for re-election following a swathe of death threats and voter intimidation.

Sheffield City Council told The Star: “We take the personal safety of councillors extremely seriously. 

“Elected Members are provided with advice and guidance on a regular basis about how to stay safe whilst undertaking their democratic responsibilities, and we also provide training on personal safety for councillors (including most recently last month) from accredited external experts.  This includes the importance of reporting threats to the Police if they are received. 

“We keep our approach to councillor safety under constant review and, together with Elected Members, we assess regularly whether there are any additional steps we need to take, including the need for additional logging of threats.”