A Labor MP has said she faces “extreme” abuse almost daily, including racism.

Satvir Kaur has held public office since 2011 and said the abuse has intensified since she was elected MP for Southampton Test in July.

She was the first female Sikh leader of a local authority in Britain when she led Southampton City Council from 2022 to 2023.

Ms Kaur was told on BBC Radio Solent that women in politics face a lot of abuse, and she said: “It’s extreme, it’s a bit more than I thought.

“You always understand when you’re sort of in the public eye and you’re a politician – suddenly, somehow, you become subhuman when all you’re really trying to do is to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

“So I understood it to some extent when I was a councilor and council leader, but I feel like since becoming an MP – especially online – I feel like having attracted all the misogynists, all the racists and all the haters.

She added that she was subjected to racist insults “constantly, almost daily.”

“It actually encourages me more to do what I do, because I want other people from disadvantaged areas, as well as brown girls, to feel that if I can do it, they can do it,” she said. she declared.

The MP said she tried to ignore the vitriol and blocked abusive comments on her social media, but sometimes “bite back”.

“I don’t want to spread hatred, and there is enough hatred out there,” she told BBC Radio Solent presenter Louisa Hannan.

Hate crimes are an issue often reported by her constituents on their doorsteps, Ms Kaur said.

In her inaugural speech she told Parliament that she was the daughter of a market trader and grew up in Southampton city center on free school meals.

Ms Kaur took over from Labour’s Alan Whitehead as MP for Southampton Test. He had held this position for 27 years.