Jewish councillors in Redbridge defy sectarian campaign to secure re-election

Jewish councillors standing for re-election in the London Borough of Redbridge were at the centre of a remarkable fightback against the rise of sectarian politics.

In local election results that bucked the trend on an otherwise difficult night for Keir Starmer, Redbridge councillors Lloyd Duddridge and Judith Garfield defied a poisonous campaign waged against them by pro-Gaza independents in the borough over a long period, to be re-elected alongside Labour colleague Guy Adams in the Churchfields seat.

On social media, they faced slurs from anonymous pro-Palestine campaigners in other areas of Redbridge, repeatedly labelled “Zionist trash” alongside other vile, abusive insults.

While independents made significant gains on the council in last Thursday’s local elections, Labour has maintained control of Redbridge Council, with a drop in support far smaller than elsewhere in the country.

The results were also a boost to Ilford North MP Wes Streeting, who came within a few hundred votes of losing his seat at the general election as he faced an intimidating campaign from pro-Gaza activists, including claims he was paid for by the Israeli “lobby” and a supporter of “genocide.”

The Health Secretary, a strong supporter of Duddridge and other local councillors, devoted considerable time to campaigning during the local elections, and spoke proudly at the count about his local Redbridge Group’s victory, saying they had seen off the challenge from extremists on both the far-left and far-right.

Duddridge arrived for the results declaration wearing a kippah, with Garfield and Adams, all receiving substantial votes.

“We weren’t too proud to ask local people who did not want to see the continued rise of extremism in the borough to give us their vote,” the Jewish Labour Movement member told Jewish News.

“We certainly learned a lot from the general election result. We knew we had to build up a broad coalition.

“For months we told local people, whoever they were, whatever faith they were, that if they wanted to avoid the rise of a politics that would do nothing to help them, they should give us their vote.”

He added: “I’m always proud to say that I’m Jewish, but as an elected councillor I will do my absolute best to help anyone regardless of their faith. Foreign policy matters like Israel never come into it as far as I’m concerned. My only concern is helping the local people of Woodford.”

Elsewhere across London and the rest of the country, there were both positive and disappointing outcomes for Jewish candidates in the local elections.

There were troubling examples of candidates previously facing claims of antisemitism being elected, and of candidates supposedly suspended by the Green and Reform UK parties still taking an active role in events.

In Lambeth, Saiqa Ali, who was suspended by Zack Polanski’s party ahead of the local elections after a string of “openly antisemitic” social media posts, was elected to Lambeth Council in south London.

Standing in Streatham St Leonard’s ward, Ali’s Instagram account was set to private, but screenshots indicated she had posted an image of an armed man wearing a headband of the banned Islamist group Hamas, along with the slogan: “Resistance is freedom”.

Ali was suspended by the party in April after a series of social media posts were reported by The Spectator, including one in which she allegedly wrote that Donald Trump “is owned by Jews”.

On April 30th, she was arrested under Section 19 of the Public Order Act and brought into custody for questioning following allegations of antisemitic posts.

Despite Ali’s suspension just days before the election, the Green Party said that electoral law meant her name had to remain on the ballot paper, and she was elected.

Over in Hackney, the Greens dramatically took control of the council in one of Zack Polanski’s party’s most targeted boroughs.

The Greens secured 29 seats, gaining overall control of the borough, while Labour fell to just eight seats, losing 27.

The Conservatives remain on five seats.

Two of those Tory seats were in the main strictly Orthodox wards of Springfield, where Simche Steinberger retained his seat with 1,971 votes, alongside Michael Levy with 1,932 and Shaul Krautwirt with 1,858.

Meanwhile in Stamford Hill West, Hershey Lisser held his seat with 1,428 votes, as did Benzion Papier with 1,550.

There was more success for the Greens on Waltham Forest Council, where they took control amid a slump in the Labour vote. But Jewish Labour councillor Miriam Mirwitch held onto her seat.

There was further chaos for the Labour Group in Camden, but after a long night of vote counting, they managed to keep control on a much reduced majority.

Despite the scare, Jewish Labour councillors Rebecca Filer and Izzy Lenga both got elected, while Lauren Keiles was also victorious, bringing the successful Jewish caucus in Camden Labour to five overall.

In Brent, the results were not so good for long-serving Jewish Labour veteran Neil Nerva or for his Jewish colleague Marc Harris in the Queens Park ward.

Many Jewish voters in Brent were unable to forgive the Labour Group for the Nablus twinning fiasco.

In Ealing, there was better news for council leader and former JLM chief Peter Mason, after Labour retained control of the council with a reduced majority.

In Westminster, the Conservatives celebrated regaining control of a council they had targeted in the 2026 locals. But in a surprising result, Alan Mendoza, who defected from the Tories to Reform UK to advise Nigel Farage on global affairs, was defeated in the Abbey Road seat.

Worryingly, Abul Monsur, who was suspended by the Aspire Party ahead of the local elections after making social media posts denying the Holocaust, was elected to Tower Hamlets council.

A post shared by Monsur appeared to express approval for Hitler, as he wrote that “Adolf Hitler outlawed usury” alongside three bullseye emojis.

Up in Bury, Greater Manchester, Reform UK was celebrating the election of Shadman Zaman in the Pilkington Park ward, with a sizable Jewish community.

Ahead of the election, Zaman expressed regret for past comments in which he said the Charedi Jewish population has created a “demonic social structure” and compared it to Al Qaeda and ISIS.

But in Bury’s Sedgley ward, there was joy for Jewish Labour’s Richard Gold, who topped the poll there.

Up in Gateshead’s Saltwell ward, a Reform UK candidate expelled by the party after Jewish News revealed his previous membership of the BNP was defeated in the poll.