MPs fear future politicians being deterred by levels of abuse

Shah, said since she was first elected to parliament in 2015, every election had got worse.

“Since the last election, those risks have gone up and public discourse on places like X exacerbates it,” she said.

“The kind of abuse that you get is magnified. I can’t see it stopping or retracting. I don’t have the confidence this is going anywhere.”

Earlier this month a man was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, for harassing Shah during her 2024 general election campaign.

Shah says: “Online threats and Islamophobia in particular, misogyny, racism, threats to life have become quite normal.

“It’s real horrible abuse. If you get a chance to look at X it’s a lot more, and I’ve stopped looking because it’s not good for my mental health.”

Shah said there had been moments when she feared for her life.

“Somebody sent me an email asking if I would like a bullet through my head or through my home. It was a number of years ago.

“At that point I felt there was a risk because I thought someone was outside my house so I had to move my children around midnight while the police came.”

She adds the intersection of race and gender made her more of a target than other MPs.

She says: “Lots of people don’t like politicians so you get hatred, but if you happen to then be female that’s an added bonus, and if you happen to be a female of colour that adds to it, and then if you happen to be a Muslim it’s even worse.

“I try not to think about it and get on with the day job.”