Scale of Senedd member abuse revealed after minister announces intention to delete X account

This week a Welsh government minister announced he would delete his X account once he steps back from his transport role, after facing significant abuse on social media.

Lee Waters, the Welsh government’s deputy minister for climate change, said he would now receive “a pile of malign comments for even the most innocuous posts”.

Sky News has spoken to a number of members of the Welsh parliament about their own experiences.

‘Impact on people around me’

Hannah Blythyn has been a member of the Senedd for eight years and has been the Welsh Labour government’s deputy minister for social partnership since 2021.

Since being elected, Ms Blythyn told Sky News she has had to “reflect” on her life.

“If I wasn’t a politician, I don’t think I’d have cameras on my house, so it’s directly connected to the role that I do,” she said.

Ms Blythyn says she made a decision when first elected “to be open about [her] sexuality” as a lesbian.

“I’ve been open to my friends and family for years, and I thought it was really important, as somebody who grew up thinking I didn’t have anybody I could identify with or nobody visible in public life to provide that visibility myself,” she said.

“But I think, with that comes a cost as well, to an extent.”

One member of the public emailed Ms Blythyn, saying she “should seek conversion therapy“.

“The worst for me I think…[was] it’s impact on the people around me,” she added.

“So this same person also contacted my wife. I found out later they’d also tried to contact my dad and contact a number of other people about me.”

‘Rather scared’

Jane Dodds has been leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since 2017 and has been a member of the Senedd since 2021.

Ms Dodds says she came off Facebook two years ago and recently handed responsibility for her X account over to her team due to its impact on her mental health.

She told Sky News she has received death threats and reported to the police one comment on Facebook which said she should be “hanged”.

During the pandemic, a vote on introducing COVID passes for nightclubs and large events was held in the Senedd.

After the vote, Ms Dodds said that around 80 anti-vax protesters surrounded her car as she left the building. She told Sky News the incident left her feeling “rather scared”.

“I was the first to leave the Senedd after the vote and we came out of the car park and they saw the car coming out and they ran towards us and ran around, shouting and put things on the car,” she said.

Ms Dodds was first elected to Westminster in 2019 for four months but lost her seat in the general election that December.

Having served as a member in both Cardiff Bay and the Commons, Ms Dodds says her brief time as an MP led her to conclude that Westminster creates an “anti-politician environment” and an unsafe atmosphere.

‘Would I want my daughter in this role?’

Sioned Williams has been a member of the Senedd since 2021 and is Plaid Cymru‘s equalities spokesperson.

She told Sky News she had experienced abuse in the past and that the threat of danger was “always there”.

“Sometimes I do ask myself, would I want my daughter to be in this role, would I want my sister to be in this role,” Ms Williams said.

“And when you’re trying to really encourage women to come forward as candidates, there is a little voice in your head as well that’s a little bit worried about what you’re doing because you know what they’re going to face.”

Ms Williams said she had taken steps to “adapt her home” since being elected.

“I lock the doors now when I’m at home, I never used to before. That kind of thing. I’m always conscious about keeping the car doors locked when I’m in the car,” she said.

“I never would have dreamt of doing that before, the camera on the doorbell. I know lots of people have to do that but it’s specifically because I’m a politician that I’m having to take those measures.

“You just have to because of the level of abuse that you do get. I can deal with people disagreeing with my views, that’s what politics is, but it’s the gendered abuse that you get back that is worrying.”

‘Thankful to those before me’

Natasha Asghar was first elected as a member of the Senedd for the Welsh Conservatives in 2021.

She is the first woman of colour to be a member of the Welsh parliament.

Ms Asghar told Sky News that since her election she had been “fortunate” not to have faced much abuse until a recent incident when giving a talk to students.

“It was a really difficult time and it was probably the first time in my career that not just myself, where I felt unsafe, but I felt unsafe and scared for my team as well, which is very important to me,” she said.

“Because ultimately, they are the ones who I work with day in, day out, and if something happens to me, they’re usually in the front line as well.”

Ms Asghar’s father was Mohammad Asghar, who served as a Senedd member from 2007 until his death in 2020.

Up until his death, Ms Asghar said her father “experienced awful hate [on social media] from people from all over the place”.

“And the things that they said were not only against him, his politics, but him as a person, his religion, his family. Everything got slated, and he just took it,” she added.

“I’m very fortunate, but I know those before me equally had a very rough ride, so I’m thankful to them for tolerating what they tolerated.”

‘Difficult to stomach’

Samuel Kurtz is another of the 2021 Tory intake of Senedd members.

He told Sky News that he “quite regularly” experiences trolling online.

“It does impact on your wellbeing when you see someone coming and attacking you personally rather than professionally,” he said.

“That’s quite difficult to stomach, and especially for family members who have to read that.

“I’ve had incidents of my mum ringing me up, going ‘Who’s this and why are they saying this about you?’

“And I’m like ‘Mum, don’t worry about it, it’s trolling, it’s someone anonymous. No idea who they are, they just get their kicks from doing that so don’t worry’.

“But that’s a difficult conversation to have with my mum and it’s most probably a difficult thing for a mother to see for her son. Unfortunately, that’s just the age of social media.”

Mr Kurtz said he hadn’t experienced much abuse face-to-face.

“I did have one incident where I was just opening the door in my office to leave while someone was trying to open it to come in and they did, and then they started berating me around COVID vaccines,” he said.

“I didn’t feel personally threatened, but with some of the language that they were using, sort of ‘traitor’, ‘blood on your hands’, you don’t want to hear that.”

‘Don’t feel safe’

Vikki Howells has been a Senedd member since 2016 and is the Welsh Labour group leader.

She told Sky News that “every female politician” she knows had experienced some form of gender-related abuse.

“Lots of female politicians have faced rape threats, lots have faced threats of violence which perhaps would not be directed towards them if they were male,” she said.

“I do know of politicians within the Senedd who’ve faced those threats.”

Ms Howells said that female politicians especially can feel “physically vulnerable when [they’re] out in public”.

“If you’re leaving a meeting in the dark and there’s no one else around, the worry that people might know who you are and there could be someone who’s following you,” she added.

“It’s not just me, I’ve spoken to a number of female MSs who don’t feel particularly safe in and around Cardiff Bay after dark.”

Ms Howells said she once received a comment on social media that she “should be dragged through the streets by [her] hair”.

But she said she “wouldn’t want women to be put off going into politics as a result of the actions of a minority”.

“We’ve got really talented women in Welsh Labour and we need to do all we can to make sure that they feel that they can put their names forward if they want to, and not face a barrage of abuse,” she added.

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A spokesperson for the Senedd Commission said it takes “the safety and welfare of all members, staff and other stakeholders seriously”.

“Members of the Senedd and their support staff can access a comprehensive range of equipment, guidance and support from the Senedd security team, and this is kept under constant review in response to evolving challenges,” the spokesperson added.

“Training on a range of security matters (such as online security and personal safety) is also available to members and their staff.”