Jewish leaders have turned down a meeting with a former antisemitic internet troll as Kemi Badenoch defended his selection as a Conservative council candidate. Mr Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of Labour peer Baroness Luciana Berger, who is Jewish. Mrs Badenoch defended Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection as a council candidate (Jordan Pettitt/PA)Mrs Badenoch defended Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection on Wednesday, saying she believed he had been rehabilitated. Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection has been criticised by the Board of Deputies, whose vice president Karen Newman said it “beggars belief”. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection was “absolutely outrageous”.