A Labor MP said he faced “extreme” abuse, including racism, almost every day.

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

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

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

“You always get it when you’re kind of in the public eye and you’re a politician – suddenly you become sub-human when all you’re really trying to do is make a positive difference in people’s lives.

“So I understood it to a degree when I was a councilor and council leader, but I feel like since I became an MP – especially online – I feel like I’ve attracted all the misogynists and all the racists and all the who hate from there.”

She added that she receives racist abuse “constantly, almost daily”.

“It actually just encourages me more to do what I’m doing because I want other people from areas of deprivation and brown girls to feel that if I can do it, I can do it,” she said.

The MP said he tries to ignore the vitriol and blocks abusive comments on social media, but occasionally “bites”.

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

Hate crimes are a problem often brought to her doorstep by her constituents, Ms Kaur said.

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

Ms Kaur succeeds Alan Whitehead, the Labor MP for Southampton Test. He held the position for 27 years.