Survey gives clues to how British Jews will vote

A new study suggests almost half of British Jews will vote Conservative at the next election, with less than a third voting Labour and over twice as many voting for UKIP than for the Liberal Democrats.

The figures, based on analysis from British Election Survey (BES) 2015, show varying political persuasions based on religious affiliations, with 46.3% of Jews voting Tory and 29.9% opting for Labour’s Ed Miliband.

Support for the opposition leader may well have dropped since, however, given that the study was based on questions asked before this summer’s Gaza conflict, during which Miliband criticised Israel.

The BES research shows 5.4% of the 134 Jews sampled would vote for Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems while 11.6% said UKIP’s Nigel Farage would get their tick.

In stark contrast, three quarters of Muslims said they would vote for Labour, with adherents to Sikhism and Buddhism also showed markedly higher levels of support for the red corner.

While a relatively high percentage of British Jews look favourably on UKIP, the anti-EU party is likely to get most support from Christians, with almost one in five Anglicans and one in six Catholics declaring their preference.