Data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council shows the number of reported crimes against MPs is forecast to rise by nearly 200% by the end of this year.
Figures released by the Metropolitan Police’s Parliamentary Investigation and Liaison Team via a Freedom of Information request illustrated a concerning rise in reported crimes committed against serving MPs.
Since 2020, the number of crimes reported to the Met’s dedicated unit has risen consistently from 284 to 528 reported in 2023.
Now, police data from the first quarter of 2024 has revealed 382 crimes have already been reported by MPs this year.
At the current rate, more than 1,500 crimes could be reported by the end of the year, a nearly 200% increase on the 2023 figures.
The most common crimes reported by MPs were malicious communications, harassment and criminal damage to a building.
Reports of harassment rose by roughly 20 incidents per year between 2020 and 2023.
In the first three months of 2024, 71 reports of harassment were made, which suggests 284 incidents could be recorded by the end of the year if the trend continues.
This would represent an alarming increase of more than 205% on reports made in 2023.
Concerningly, threats to kill was also a common crime reported by serving MPs.
In 2023, 17 such incidents were reported to the Met’s PLAIT team and in the first quarter of 2024 alone, a further 11 reports were made.
When it comes to the victim profiles, male MPs reported more crimes than female MPs.
In the first quarter of 2024, 166 crimes were reported by women and 197 reported by men.
Across all incidents reported, 19 recorded a victim gender of “other” which is used to refer to crimes with more than one victim where the gender has not been recorded.
When analysed proportionately in terms of the gender split in Parliament, female MPs were disproportionately represented as victims of crime.
In the first quarter of 2024, before the July general election, women made up 35% of representatives in the Commons.
Comparatively, women were victims in 43.5% of reported crimes.
Across the same time period, men made up 65% of MPs and 51.6% of victims in incidents reported to PLAIT.
PLAIT was set up in 2016 following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.
The dedicated team is based in the Palace of Westminster and liaises with other police forces across the country and the Parliamentary Security Department to respond to incident reports.
CEO of The Jo Cox Foundation Su Moore said: “It is saddening to see these statistics, which point to the scale and severity of abuse and threats that MPs are facing.
“We also know that the full scale of abuse is unfortunately even larger, as many abusive incidents go unreported.”
She added: “If action is not taken, we risk seeing more politicians stepping down due to abuse and intimidation, fewer people putting themselves forward as candidates, and less diversity and representation in UK politics.”
The Jo Cox Civility Commission, run by the organisation, has proposed 28 cross-sector recommendations intended to tackle the culture of abuse and intimidation of elected representatives.
Featured image credit: James Eades vis Unsplash
