A Southampton MP said that she faces “extreme” abuse, including racism, almost every day, and that it encourages her to do more of what she is doing.

Satvir Kaur admitted that the abuse has escalated since she was elected MP for Southampton Test in July.

She has been in public office since 2011 and was the first female Sikh leader of a local authority when she headed Southampton City Council between 2022 and 2023.

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“[The abuse has] been extreme, it’s kind of more than I thought,” Ms Kaur told BBC Radio Solent.

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

“So I got it to a certain extent when I was a councillor and leader of the council, but I feel as though, since I’ve become an MP – especially online – I feel as though I’ve attracted all of the misogynists, all of the racists, and all of the haters out there.”

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

The MP, who succeeded Alan Whitehead after he held the post for 27 years, said she tries to ignore online trolls but occasionally does answer back.

Ms Kaur said: “Actually it 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, they can do it.”

Ms Kaur stood down as a councillor in August, after being elected MP in July.

She won nearly 16,000 votes, which is five per cent less than Mr Whitehead did in 2019.

Ms Kaur told the Echo on election night that it was a "huge honour" to be elected.

She said: "As someone born and bred Southampton that’s always lived here, I am a local girl from our inner city and the people of Southampton have made me who I am and tonight they made me their member of parliament and I am completely humbled."

Her Shirley seat was won by the Liberal Democrat candidate George Percival in a by-election, with Labour finishing third.