Dehenna Davison: County Durham MP subjected to "toxic" online abuse

At the end of last week, Bishop Auckland representative, Dehenna Davison, took to Twitter to voice her concern at a “distressing” email she’d received from an unknown male that told her to end her life.

Ms Davison, who was elected for Bishop Auckland in 2019, posted the exchange online on Friday (December 10) with the short caption of “classy”.

Read more: Peter Gibson MP's plea to stop online social media abuse

Since posting her message, the MP has received support and reassuring messages, both from her constituents and those from other areas of the UK.

Ms Davison’s post has amassed over 300 comments and 1000 likes – highlighting the safety aspect of being an MP in 2021.

In response to the email she received, which has since been reported to Durham Constabulary for the police force to investigate, social media users were quick to condemn the actions of the person who created the email to Ms Davison.

The County Durham MP has since reported the online abuse to the police.

Responding to the Bishop Auckland MP, one user wrote: “I didn’t vote for you, but I was in the minority, and I accept that and believe in democracy - he should be ashamed of himself, his comment is disgraceful, totally inappropriate and dangerous. Keep safe.”

Another person wrote: “Appalling. I remember a time when you could disagree with someone without being so toxic and vile.”

After seeing some of the supportive comments in reply to her tweet, Ms Davison later posted “It’s been reported,” before individually thanking several people who called out the abusive email.

In recent months, conversations over the safety of MPs has arisen following the tragic death of MP, David Amess.

This incident comes after safety for MPs becoming a prevalent topic in the news, since Southend West MP, David Amess, was killed at a political surgery in his constituency on October 15 this year.

Ms Davison isn’t the only MP to receive abuse online in recent times. Earlier this month, Labour MPs Zarah Sultana and Aspana Begum spoke out about racist abuse they’d had directed at them over social media platforms. 

Online, a group has been set up named ‘Action on MP abuse’ that looks to tackle the issue, and engage people respectfully without bullying, intimidating or threatening their MP. 

It's not known at this time whether Durham Constabulary will pursue the complaint from Ms Davison. When The Northern Echo contacted the police force, a spokesperson said: "We would not confirm if an individual has been a victim of a crime, so, therefore, can't comment."

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