Two weeks before the general election, the Jewish Chronicle commissioned a Survation poll to map the voting intentions of British Jews. To our surprise, we found that, unlike the rest of the country, the Tories were just ahead in the community – by nine percentage points. The stain of the Corbyn years, it seemed, had not yet been fully erased.
The following week, however, a second, larger poll was published. This one, by Jewish Policy Research, put Labour 16 points ahead.
It was against this background of ambiguity that amid high drama overnight, the Jewish heartland seat of Finchley fell to Labour’s Sarah Sackman, who defeated the Conservative candidate, Alex Deane, by 4,581 votes. The result was particularly poignant given the fact that the seat had previously been held by Mike Freer, who had stood up for the Jews and Israel for 14 years before a shameful act of arson made it all too much.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in