A man who previously held a position in local government has been sentenced to prison for stalking the former Conservative Party leadership contender, Dame Penny Mordaunt.
Edward Brandt, aged 61, was convicted at Southampton Crown Court and received a 20-week jail term for stalking Dame Penny Mordaunt, who expressed feeling threatened by potential “sexual violence.”
Although Brandt was cleared of a more severe charge related to causing serious distress, the court learned that he inundated the 52-year-old Dame Penny with numerous emails and phone messages, in addition to showing up at her office outside of working hours in Portsmouth between September 11, 2023, and May 12, 2024.
In a statement provided to law enforcement, Dame Penny described feeling anxious about potential sexual harm due to the defendant’s unsettling conduct.
The divorced father of two and former professional sailor, Brandt, was also penalized for violating a stalking protection order on multiple occasions in December 2025. These breaches included failing to inform the authorities about internet-capable devices and creating social media accounts on platforms like Facebook and Snapchat.
For his actions, Brandt received a 12-week prison sentence for the stalking offense and an additional eight weeks to be served consecutively for the breaches.