People who threaten or harass candidates ahead of May's council elections will be "called out", the leader of Swansea Council said. Cllr Rob Stewart said there would be a "zero tolerance" approach to such behaviour, and urged everyone to behave respectfully and fairly.
Voters in Wales will choose the political make-up of their county or borough council for the next five years on May 5. Changes have been introduced giving candidates the option to withhold their home address so it's not on the ballot paper - and Swansea and Carmarthenshire councils won't be publishing councillors' home addresses after the election in a move breaking with years of tradition.
Speaking at a meeting of full council this month, Cllr Stewart said all group leaders in the city backed the Welsh Local Government Association's fair campaign pledge for the coming elections. You can read about Swansea councillors who are standing down here.
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"Unfortunately, councillors and candidates across Wales are often subject to intimidation, personal attacks, threats and abuse, which is not only unacceptable but undermines the principles of free speech and debate," said Cllr Stewart. "We will be publicly calling out any such inappropriate behaviour and will take a zero tolerance approach to abuse of any candidate or any councillor."
He said: "We pledge to participate in a fair election campaign which is based on positive campaigning and merit rather than personal attacks and smears against individuals. We all have the right to carry out our civic duties without fear of being attacked or abused."
Candidates who choose to withhold their home address on the ballot paper - and also the statement of persons nominated form - will only have to disclose which county council area they live in, for example Swansea or Carmarthenshire. Tony Fitzgerald, chairman of Swansea group Independents@Swansea, said this was because of security issues and the potential vulnerability of candidates should their home address become public.
Mr Fitzgerald said he understood some candidates might be concerned that their address was readily available, but he feared large political parties could take advantage of the new arrangements by "parachuting" candidates in from outside areas. In his view, the address should show the ward or community a candidate lived in at the least.
"Swansea covers a huge area, from west Gower to St Thomas and north to the former Mawr area," said Mr Fitzgerald. "Electors want to vote for a local candidate, not just for someone who lives somewhere in the greater authority area, so need to know at a minimum the ward in which the candidate resides."
The Electoral Commission has confirmed the new system giving candidates the address-withholding option at election time. "It is down to the candidate to choose what they provide," said an Electoral Commission spokeswoman.
A spokesman for Swansea Council, when asked what contact information it would disclose about a councillor after the election, said: "Legislation states that we must not publish the home address of councillors, online or elsewhere. However, the council’s web page will display a correspondence address which will be an office in the Guildhall, a councillor's email address and telephone number."
Carmarthenshire Council said a carmarthenshire.gov.uk email address will be published for each councillor but no home addresses.
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