Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Over at the Camden council count and there is more good news for three Jewish Labour candidates.
Izzy Lenga secured victory in the South Hampstead ward, while Rebecca Filer won in Haverstock.
Elsewhere Adrian Cohen, a much respected communal figure, secured a surprise victory for Labour in Hampstead Town.
In a quite astonishing result Labour have won all three seats in the Childs Hill ward, a victory few were predicting.
The result saw Peter Zinkin, one of the most senior Barnet Conservatives beaten on night.
Shortly after the result Dan Thomas the Tory Group leader was seen shaking hands with Labour leader Barry Rawlings and graciously accepting his party had lost control of the borough.
The final results are still to be declared. Earlier the impressive Eva Greenspan was one of three Conservatives to triumph in the Finchley Church End ward.
Victorious Jewish Labour councillor Ella Rose has praised the “phenomenal job” Keir Starmer has done in rooting out antisemitism in his party.
Rose, who won the Whetstone ward along with fellow Jewish Labour Movement member Liron Velleman, also said their successful campaign also saw Jewish voters returning to Labour “definitely, 100 per cent.”
Speaking at the Barnet election count at the Saracens Rugby Club stadium, Rose, said Starmer deserved a “huge amount” of credit for his leadership on the antisemitism issue.
“There will always been more to do to root out antisemitism, but Keir has done a phenomenal job so far,” she told Jewish News.
“Liron and I have worked incredibly hard and run a very good campaign.”
Apologies, but getting slightly tired now. So in a wrap up of the last three results, there were victories for Labour in High Barnet, two seats, and Burnt Oak, three, including Sara Conway.
In Totteridge and Woodside, there was victory for the two Tory candidates.
As expected, two Barnet Tory candidates ended up victorious in the Garden Suburb ward. Rohit Grover and Michael Mire were the victors.
In one of the stand out results of the night for Barnet Labour, Ella Rose and Liron Velleman has secured victory in the Whetstone ward.
Both candidates had been amongst the most outspoken campaigners against antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn.
But in the clearest sign yet that Keir Starmer’s war on anti-Jewish racism has won the support of voters in a ward with a high Jewish vote, both Rose and Velleman were declared winners.
Two Labour candidates – Anne Clarke and Alan Schneiderman – have secured an impressive victory in the Cricklewood ward.
Clarke has long been held in high esteem by Jewish Labour activists for her outspoken opposition to antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn.
Schneiderman is one of numerous Jewish Barnet Labour stalwarts. Former Brexit Party general election candidate Yosef David, himself Jewish, failed to get elected in the Barnet ward.
The two Barnet Tory candidates – Dean Cohen and Melvyn Cohen – have romped to victory as expected in the Golders Green ward.
Supporters cheered as the result was announced at 2.50am
The votes could not have been closer in the newly created Edgwarebury ward in Barnet. Former Googlebox star Josh Tapper is one of two Labour candidates to lose out to the two Conservatives. Only 100 or so votes decide it.
Labour has triumphed in both West Hendon and Colindale South to the delight of supporters, activists, and other candidates
Barnet Labour leader Barry Rawlings, and Gill Sergeant, the Jewish candidate in Colindale South, tell Jewish News ‘antisemitism did not come up on the doorstep as an issue.’
Rawlings stresses Jewish voters were concerned instead with everyday issues like schools, environment and the cost of living.
Sergeant adds:’I am not going to be defined by antisemitism.’
No great surprise at first declaration in Barnet. Two Labour candidates secure easy win.
Told that we can expect to hear the first declaration from Barnet soon. How soon, and in what ward, I do not know.
Some optimism at the count from one of Barnet Conservatives leading candidates – Eva Greenspan. Standing in the Finchley Church End ward she tells Jewish News she is “still confident” her party can win the council.
Whilst the Lib Dems appear to be eating into the Tory vote in areas outside London, in Barnet the story does not appear to be so encouraging. One senior Barnet Lib Dem source insists:”It’s Labour’s night here, no question.”
The party’s candidates had hoped to build on Luciana Berger’s performance as a parliamentary candidate in 2019 at the 2022 local election. West Finchley had been a particularly hopeful gain for the party. But speculation ahead of the vote being declared was that Labour had taken it.
One of the friendliest candidates at the Barnet count – West Finchley ward Conservative challenger Thomas Sheppard. Admits the ward is not at the top of the list of his party’s most winnable ones – it’s firmly Labour v Tory territory. But having moved to the capital from Norwich says he’s throughly enjoyed the experience, and praises MP Mike Freer for his support.
Yes, it’s happening now. Maariv, with men from Tory, Labour and Lib Dem parties inside the StoneXStadium as the votes in the Barnet local election are being counted.
The chatter in the key marginals ahead of the first results being declared in Barnet could explain Labour’s optimism that is has taken the borough for the first time since its formation in 1964.
In the High Barnet ward I am told Labour sources are “very confident” of success in the two seats being contested.
Elsewhere in the Brunswick ward, electing three councillors, Labour are said to be “quite confident” of success.
In what would be a hugely significant result, I am told there is “growing confidence” two Jewish Labour Movement candidates – Ella Rose and Liron Velleman have “done well.”
In the newly formed Edgwarebaury ward, sources say it is “too close to call.”
Meanwhile, in Childs Hill, in what would be good news for Barnet Conservatives, there is talk they are “in with a chance” of success in a ward that Labour would have had hopes of winning.
Elsewhere in West Finchley where local Liberal Democrats leader Gabriel Rosenberg is standing, the speculation is he has taken votes from the Tory candidate. But whether this will be enough to win the ward remains to be seen.
Some basic information on what’s at stake as the votes are counted tonight into tomorrow. Barnet’s total eligible electorate of 256, 900 have, if the bothered to cast a vote, been electing 63 councillors across 24 wards in the borough. This is an increase on the 21 wards that existed before boundary changes were brought in.
There are 15 wards in which 3 councillors are being elected and 9 wards with 2 councillors. There are also newly named wards such as Edgwarebury and Barnet Vale this time around.
First results are expected after 2am Friday morning. If you are political geek, or can’t sleep, it’s worth staying up for. Believe me.
Lisa Bard of the Women’s Equality Party – and a member of Edgware Reform Synagogue – is the candidate in the Edgware ward. She tells Jewish News: “We ran a very successful campaign. When people had time to listen on the doorstep they were very interested in our policies and objectives.
“If elected, I will apply a female lens to all council policies. I will ensure violence against woman and girls will be reduced.”
Good evening from the StoneXStadium – home of Saracens rugby club – where the votes are now being counted in the Barnet Local Election. Fair to say senior Barnet Labour sources are quietly whispering they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ of taking the council for the first time.
Counting in some boroughs is due to begin shortly after the polling stations close.
Welcome to the Jewish News’s coverage of the 2022 local elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
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