EX-COUNCILLOR HAS BEEN CONVICTED OF STALKING FORMER CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP CANDIDATE DAME PENNY MORDAUNT
Update 16/01/2026: Edward Brandt, 61, has been jailed for 20 weeks after stalking Penny Mordaunt, which the former cabinet minister said left her fearing “sexual violence”.Edward Brandt, a professional sailor, had been found guilty of the offence but was acquitted of a more serious charge of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
The trial was told he sent at least 17 emails and three phone messages to Mordaunt, as well as turning up at her Portsmouth constituency office out-of-hours between 11 September 2023 and 12 May 2024.
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Edward Brandt, who was previously based in Freshwater and is now residing in Lymington, was convicted of stalking the former Portsmouth North MP at Southampton Crown Court.
However, the jury cleared him of a more severe charge of stalking that involved causing significant alarm or distress.
The jury's verdict was reached with a majority of ten to two in favour of guilt.
During the trial, it was revealed that Brandt sent the ex-leader of the House of Commons a minimum of 17 emails and three phone messages.
He also appeared at her Portsmouth office outside of working hours.
At the time of the incident, Brandt, a resident of the Isle of Wight, was accused of breaching the conditions of a conditional caution given in April 2024, which mandated him to complete a victim awareness program and abstain from contacting Dame Penny.
He left two voicemail messages for her on May 6 and 10.
In one, he stated: “I am going to go on gently knocking at your door in order to shake your hand, I am not giving up.” The 61-year-old, divorced and a father of two, has a background as a professional sailor.
He was also issued an interim stalking protection order at Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on July 16, 2024.
Dame Penny informed police that she feared sexual violence because of Brandt's unsettling conduct.
She explained to the court: “I have been a parliamentarian for 14 years and during that time, I have had to deal with all kinds of threats and issues.
“It’s different from your average citizen, I am quite used to dealing with this and I am quite a robust individual.
“The difference between this case and even threats to shoot me and my family, they are easier to deal with because that threat is not constantly present, it’s not something you are having to think about every single day when you are leaving your house.
“I am not a professional, I do not have counselling experience but I have a lot of life experience and dealing with vulnerable people or people who are mentally unwell or strange in another way and I believe this man was a real threat to me and still is.” When asked why he wanted to meet Dame Penny, Brandt, a former councillor for East Hampshire District Council, said: “I wanted to commiserate with her for not getting the top job in the autumn, I think she would still have been prime minister if she had been.
“I wanted to congratulate her because she was a reforming leader of the Commons, I wanted to congratulate her on the coronation, chat to her about her time in office, have her sign a copy of her book.
“It was entirely political and entirely harmless.” Brandt, who has diagnosed ADHD and is on the autism spectrum, stated that he had not received any responses from Dame Penny’s office regarding his attempts to meet her, adding: “I wasn’t getting a reply, so I kept trying harmlessly.”
