Boundary changes could create the most Jewish constituency ever
Parts of Edgware, Hendon, Mill Hill and Golders Green could be amalgamated into a new extended area with a significant portion of the community contained in it
The most Jewish constituency ever is being proposed by the Boundary Commission this week, with one MP to cover Edgware, Hendon, Mill Hill and Golders Green.
The new seat, based on an extended version of the Hendon seat currently occupied by Tory Matthew Offord, was put forward on Tuesday by a cross-party team tinkering with the existing boundaries, in order to reduce by 50 the number of MPs.
As now, it will stretch from its northernmost tip near Elstree through Edgware, Burnt Oak, Colindale, Hendon and West Hendon, including Mill Hill, but under the new plans, it will also incorporate Brent Cross, Golders Green and Staples Corner.
Among the seats due to disappear completely under the Commission’s proposals is the Finchley and Golders Green constituency currently held by Conservative MP Mike Freer, and once held by Margaret Thatcher.
Under the revised plans, it will be gobbled up by neighbouring constituencies, with Golders Green going to join the new ‘Jewish seat,’ while Childs Hill and Hampstead Garden Suburb get swallowed by an enlarged Hampstead outline.
East Finchley will now be taken on within a new constituency including Southgate and Cockfosters which stretches all the way up to the M25, beyond Hadley Wood.
Meanwhile North Finchley and Church End will join the current Chipping Barnet seat currently held by another Tory MP Theresa Villiers, who is former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Harrow East, which includes Stanmore and which is currently held by another Conservative MP, Bob Blackman, will no longer stretch down towards Edgware and Kenton, but will instead reach westwards to incorporate Harrow and Wealdstone, North Harrow and Rayners Lane.
Labour’s Tulip Siddiq, who has been highly critical of the proposed changes, will see her Hampstead and Kilburn seat scrapped. The Hampstead seat will now include the whole of Hampstead Heath, as well as Hampstead Garden Suburb up to East Finchley.
Elsewhere, in an intriguing twist, much of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North seat shifts eastward to include areas with large Jewish populations, including Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill.
Last year, when actress Maureen Lipman raised the prospect of Corbyn’s seat being scrapped at a dinner for British Emunah, there was a large cheer from the audience.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
