What’s Happened with British Jews Since Corbyn’s Defeat?

Britain’s 260,000 or so Jews breathed a collective sigh of relief in December 2019 when Jeremy Corbyn, at the time the leader of the Labor party, suffered a decisive electoral defeat to now-prime minister Boris Johnson. For four years, the Jewish community had been tormented by Corbyn’s simultaneous encouragement and covering-up of rampant anti-Semitism in Labor and left-wing politics. As I wrote then, while anti-Semitism has long been an issue in the UK, it was under Corbyn’s leadership that it became an electoral strategy. Under him, as few as 7 percent of Jews were thought to vote for Labor in 2019, down from an even split between Labor and the Conservatives, according to a study from the Jewish Policy Institute nine years prior.

There was one pleasant surprise that came in response to those burdensome years: Britain’s Jews, hardly known for their outspoken activism, made unprecedented public and private interventions to stand up to Corbyn. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote a letter condemning the Labor party as “incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud—of dignity and respect for all people,” the Jewish community held a series of rallies and demonstrations garnering international media coverage, and various bodies and campaigns filed complaint after complaint attempting to force a ruling that would ensure friendlier treatment.

Through it all, the hope among the country’s Jews was: if Corbyn leaves, things can go back to normal, and we can retreat to our quiet comfort zone. The first part of the equation happened; in the wake of his defeat, Corbyn followed convention and resigned his leadership. But what about the second? It’s been more than a year now since Corbyn left the picture—what news?