Greater numbers of electoral candidates in May 2026 elections in England faced harassment or intimidation

The watchdog added that women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and those with a disability were more likely to experience abuse.

The Electoral Commission’s report said political parties should support the Speaker’s Conference recommendation to develop a code of conduct for campaigning and work with it as it builds on the Principles for Campaigning published ahead of the May elections.

Social media companies should also do more to remove abusive content quickly and identify perpetrators, it added.

The watchdog meanwhile found the elections were well run – albeit the system remains under pressure – and that public confidence in the running of them remains high.

Some 94% of voters in England were satisfied with the process of voting, and 87% were confident the elections were well run.

The report found, however, that disabled voters continue to face barriers, despite returning officers providing support and equipment in polling stations.

“Awareness of available assistance remains low, including among voters who could benefit from it. More must be done to make sure voters know what support is available and how to request it before polling day,” the Electoral Commission said.

Voters also remain concerned about the accuracy of election information, with more than half of people surveyed saying they had seen misinformation, and one in ten saying they had seen deepfake material.

The Electoral Commission’s deepfake detection pilot found that political deepfakes were not widespread at these elections, but future risks remain significant.

It added that electoral and democratic systems are part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure and electoral law and online platform duties should be updated so they can respond to misinformation, disinformation and manipulated media.

Vijay Rangarajan, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, said: “Without improvements to candidate safety, there is a significant risk that people will be put off standing in future elections. It requires work right across the electoral community to prioritise the safety of all those taking part.

“Parties have a responsibility to make it clear to their members that they should respect all candidates, regardless of which party they represent, while social media companies should act faster to remove abusive content aimed at candidates, and identify those responsible.

“These elections demonstrate the growing threats posed to democracy. Protecting those who participate in our elections, whether in the polling booth or on the campaign trail, is a vital part of a healthy democracy.”

The Electoral Commission has also called for electoral law to reflect the risk posed by new threats, such as generative AI.

Rangarajan said: “Voters are happy with how elections are run, and turn out increased this year, but many voters are telling us that they are worried about mis and disinformation.

“The UK Government and the social media platforms need to take urgent action to protect voters from misinformation.  

“Social media platforms should be required to improve how they protect the integrity of information about elections. We want to see them carry out risk assessments on how their services might be used to create or share harmful mis- or dis-information. They also need to make it easier for trusted partners to highlight potentially harmful mis- or dis-information. In addition, our election laws should be updated to keep pace with advances in digital campaigning.”

Reports covering May’s Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections, which reached similar findings to the report for England, have also been published.