Councillor Sally Goodfellow has spoken out about facing both online attacks and aggressive behaviour from residents while out in her ward.
She said the climate has changed since she was first elected in 2012 and believes it is linked to the rise in divisive politics as well as social media.
Cllr Goodfellow said: “It’s almost like it’s acceptable now. We’re allowed to talk to politicians like that. When I got elected, people listened. Now it’s aggressive, and the abuse just feels normal to some people.”
Some of the abuse she has faced includes residents threatening to “set the dogs on her”, falsely accusing her of being a paedophile, and sending messages calling her a “waste of space” or telling her to “get a proper job”.
She said: “I find myself bracing myself for whether it’s going to be a nice person on the other side of the door or someone aggressive.”
She said councillors are often blamed for decisions outside their control and accused of wrongdoing, adding that it creates a sense of being constantly criticised regardless of the outcome.
“You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” she said.
Balancing council duties alongside her job in A&E has also become more difficult.
She said: “Even when I’m on annual leave, my phone’s still on, I’m still getting messages, I’m getting emails… there’s never a switch-off time.”
The Labour councillor for Redbridge posted on her social media to announce she would be taking a break after suffering abuse from the public.
“Councillors believe it or not are human too and not all career politicians just local people living locally wanting to make a difference.
“In Redbridge we’ve always been really open – people can contact us on Facebook – but I’m starting to think about reining that in because it’s just not nice anymore.
“The problem is, it means things will take longer to get done for residents. When people tagged me in an issue online, I could see it on my break at work and quickly send it to an officer. If it has to come through email instead, it might take a couple of days.”
Cllr Goodfellow urged the public to be kind, adding: “Think about how you would feel if a family member saw something negative about you.
“Think about before you type, think about the human the other side of it and how that looks and their families are reading that.”