Labour leader Keir Starmer received a significant pre-election boost from Jewish voters during a meeting at a Barnet cafe, where Board of Deputies vice president Edwin Shuker and others

confirmed their support for Labour, many for the first time.

Starmer met with six voters from the Chipping Barnet constituency at the Oak Cafe in Whetstone on Monday afternoon, following a major election speech in West Sussex. These voters had informed local Labour candidate Dan Tomlinson of their intention to vote Labour on July 4.

Among the attendees, some had been lifelong Conservative supporters but decided to switch to Labour due to its stance on the economy and its efforts against antisemitism. Edwin Shuker, who has been with the Board of Deputies for 33 years and always voted Tory, expressed his previous fears under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, which led him to consider leaving the country due to rising antisemitism.

Shuker praised Starmer, saying, "You were the miracle that came to us at the right time, saying it was stopping right now, and ruthlessly and brutally. That gave us that feeling we are welcome here."

Starmer acknowledged Shuker's story, calling it "extraordinary" and reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating antisemitism from the Labour Party. "The first thing I said when I became leader of this party was that I was going to tear antisemitism out by its roots. You have then got to follow through because you are judged by your actions, not your words. People have said we have been ruthless, we had to be."

Another Jewish voter at the table added, "Had you not done that we wouldn’t be sitting here." Photo by MykReeve at the English-language Wikipedia.