Death threats

Byron Davies, 64. Lost seat in Gower

I first detected a change in attitude a year ago when I started getting very rude Twitter and Facebook messages. I thought: “Oh well, maybe some people are just a bit upset about what I’m doing.”

But when the Prime Minister called the general election things changed dramatically. It was like throwing a switch. I got inundated, especially because my seat was the number one target for Labour.

I got a deluge of offensive, four-letter word messages wrongly accusing me of fraudulent behaviour over the 2015 election, mainly not from constituents. It obviously caught on, because people were soon confronting me in the street.

Then, a few weeks before the election, I got two death threats online. One of them said if I was seen again in a particular area I would be strung up. I was warned if I continued what I was doing it would be the end of me. To be frank it didn’t really bother me personally. I’ve been through worse things than that. But it bothered my staff greatly. It’s important they are protected.

I contacted the police. We were encouraged to do so by the parliamentary authorities after the tragic attack on Jo Cox. They were visited by officers, arrested and interviewed.

They were young people. I think they were just carried on the tidal wave of what was going on. I chose not to push for a criminal conviction and let them have a caution.

I felt it was the right thing to do, though my wife thought I should press charges. If this is the sick way politics is going, it will be a very sad world.