Jewish woman elected to lead London Young Labour

A Jewish woman from West London has been elected to head London Young Labour, after winning a leadership race by 189 votes to 87.

Miriam Mirwitch, a feminist who previously worked at Young Fabians, has been described as a critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

She said this week that Labour can repair its relations with the Jewish community, but that this would require former mayor Ken Livingstone’s expulsion from the party, and Labour’s adoption of all recommendations from the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Criticising the “apathy towards anti-Semitism” seen recently, she said Labour has “a proud history of Jewish activists, representatives and links to my community,” but added: “In the past anti-Semitism has not been taken seriously enough.”

She cited the current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan as “an example of how relations can be repaired,” and said Labour’s youth movement was also doing its bit.

“At our AGM on Saturday, the conference voted unanimously in favour of motion calling Antisemitism Has No Place in Our Movement. This is incredibly positive. The event was also Sabbath-friendly and Labour Party staffers worked to ensure that delegates could take part while also observing the Sabbath.”