An expose by the Hunting Leaks site regarding Vote OK in January 2021 showed us that Johnathon Seed, known to us from his time at the Ross Harriers, was intending to run for Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2021 in Wiltshire. Despite it being outside of our three counties, we looked for any photos or videos or other information we knew about him from his time with the Harriers, not least because of his claim that he has not been involved with hunts for over a decade…
For those wondering what Vote OK is, they state themselves that “Vote-OK aims to ensure that in elections and by-elections we elect representatives that will understand and appreciate the ways of the countryside, and, amongst other measures, will reconsider the future of the Hunting Act 2004”. They supply canvassers for candidates they support and are currently funding campaigns for those they want to help…
Bath Hunt Saboteurs, Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs and Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch, among others, took to social media to get the word out about Johnathon Seed and his antics… and lies.
Seed’s own website for his campaign had a page regarding his views where he mentioned his hunting “past”. And yet he has since deleted the entire page (which has been referred to as “Seed’s sherried-up rant” by a friend of ours who got to see it prior to its deletion).
So what is Seed’s hunting “past”? Considering he no longer seems to want to talk about it, we’ll help fill you in. He’s been hunting most of his life, from being involved with the Royal Artillery Hunt having come out of the Royal Artillery himself, to joining the Avon Vale as a Hunt Master (check out the Hunt Saboteurs Association for the actions of this hunt while he was with them) and remaining there from before the Hunting Act until he resigned, having just applied to be a councillor for Wiltshire. And that’s where his hunting involvement finished? … that’s what he’d like you to think.
In 2013 Seed joined the Ross Harriers as Chairman. Lee Peters, who was later asked to leave by the hunt (not Seed) for his aggression and general horrendous behaviour towards hunt sabs and supporters alike, was huntsman and master at this time. Now we’re not going to pretend that we’re some maths geniuses here, but even the local primary school children can tell you that 2013 is not in fact “over a decade” ago.
The media even back this up – a court case involving Lee Peters in 2013 quoted Seed as the hunt’s Chairman. Hunting seasons run from 1st May to 30th April, so Seed would have been with the Harriers until the end of April 2014 even if that had been his last year hunting. Which it was not…
Not only was Seed with the Harriers for some time but we also noticed his name in Hunting Leaks’ most recent leak, of minutes from a ‘This is Hunting UK’ meeting, as a Regional Coordinator. The meeting took place in late 2018…
Additionally, we took a look at Seed’s old facebook profile, which has (had) a few more public photos on it. Additionally he “liked” the page ‘Boycott Lush for Supporting Hunt Sabs’ which suggests a bias… Whilst none of his public photos were of hunting specifically, the comments certainly didn’t back up his claims of no longer being involved.
Seed is talking about getting back in the saddle after having a year off. His photos were published outside of the hunting season, in June 2020, but comments from him and his friends reference hunting…
“Getting ready for the season or just a happy hack.” … “Hmmmm”
“On on!” (hunting speak)
“She probably wouldn’t deal with a Beaufort [Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt] hedge but could probably cope with most of the Avonvale [sic – Avon Vale Hunt] hedges”
“See you out later in the year” (once the season restarts)
“… gathering momentum for when you come hunting over here” (pretty self-explanatory…)
None of the above suggest that Seed is done with hunting…
There is now a petition going regarding a “Vote of No Confidence” in Seed as a PCC candidate. There is a lot more information on there of Seed’s activities: check it out here
We’ll update this page with anything major about Seed, but this isn’t our campaign, as much as we’re adding our support to it. Please follow Bath Hunt Saboteurs, Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs and Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch for much more detail and up-to-date information on the running for Wiltshire PCC…