Starmer and Badenoch clash over legal work of their top Jewish lawyers
Work of Lord Wolfson and Lord Hermer comes under scrutiny in political row
A simmering political row has erupted between Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch after legal work by two of the UK’s most senior lawyers, both of whom are Jewish, came under scrutiny.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that Shadow Attorney General Lord Wolfson has recused himself from advising the Conservative leader on Ukraine and Russia due to his involvement in representing Roman Abramovich in ongoing legal proceedings in Jersey.
More than £5.3 billion of Abramovich’s assets have been frozen there since 2022, subject to a complex legal dispute.
Faced with claims of a conflict of interest over her most senior lawyer, Badenoch hit back by raising Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer KC’s work defending Gerry Adams and other figures viewed as controversial.
Last month Justice Minister Jake Richards was among senior Labour figures to call Wolfson’s role “indefensible,” arguing it risked a conflict of interest for someone serving on the Conservative front bench.
Conservatives, meanwhile, had accused Labour of “pure politics” and a “baseless smear,” insisting “barristers act for clients, not causes.”
The dispute escalated further on Wednesday during a heated exchange between the Prime Minister and Badenoch at PMQs.
Starmer questioned how someone could “sit in her shadow cabinet, advising someone trying to escape sanctions, and pretend that their policy is to support us on sanctions,” after Badenoch cast doubts on his international leadership amid crises in Venezuela and Ukraine, and concerns about NATO’s future if Donald Trump regains power.
The Prime Minister told the Commons: “We want the money from Chelsea Football Club to go to Ukraine. I’m not sure whether that’s her position. If it is, presumably it’s something they discuss in the shadow cabinet, advised by a shadow attorney-general who is representing the very man whose money we want to send to Ukraine.”
Badenoch fiercely defended Wolfson, later accusing the Prime Minister of lying in an angry post on X.
“He lied and lied and lied again,” she wrote. “And he did so to smear a man defending our veterans in court against the Labour government. I’m proud to have David [Wolfson] in my team. He doesn’t deserve to have his name smeared by low-rent politicians trying to distract from their own failures.”
Labour MP Jon Pearce, recently appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, countered on X: “If this is not an issue, why is the shadow attorney general having to recuse himself on advising Kemi Badenoch on the biggest national security issue facing Britain? ”
Pearce, a former chair of Labour Friends of Israel, added: “Spoiler alert: because he has a conflict of interest with Britain’s national interest.”
A Tory spokesperson later confirmed to journalists Wolfson “has recused himself from advising her [Badenoch] on anything related to Ukraine because of this court case.”
At PMQs, Badenoch attempted to shift focus onto the legal work previously undertaken by Hermer.
“Why don’t we talk about the actual attorney general who is sitting in cabinet?” she said.
“The man who defended Gerry Adams, the man who is trying to bring Shamima Begum back into the country, the man who is helping to surrender the Chagos Islands. I will take our shadow attorney general every day of the week against his attorney general.”
Starmer replied: “Of course, I accept that lawyers have to represent all sorts of clients.”
Labour sources pointed out that Hermer’s controversial cases were handled before he became the government’s most senior lawyer.
They also stressed he Hermer had never defended Begum, but had once acted for Liberty in a case involving her.
The row showed no sign of abating.
Asked why Badenoch and other Conservatives criticised Hermer’s case record while defending Wolfson’s work for Abramovich, a Tory spokesperson argued that Hermer had “often campaigned for the wider causes behind cases,” unlike Wolfson.
“There is obviously a difference between cases and causes, and what Lord Wolfson is doing is taking a case. You haven’t seen him campaigning or anything like that. Lawyers represent cases, not causes. What Richard Hermer has done is represent causes.”
Pressed for specific examples, he conceded: “I don’t have any to hand.”
Later on Wednesday, Wolfson addressed Starmer in a letter posted on X, clarifying that he is not a member of the shadow cabinet and is not representing Abramovich in any UK sanctions case or regarding the proceeds from the Chelsea sale.
“The government says that the proceeds of sale of Chelsea FC should go to humanitarian causes in Ukraine. The opposition agrees. There is nothing between us on this issue,” he wrote.
Wolfson also cited Starmer’s previous comments: “Lawyers represent clients. Doctors treat patients. The fact a doctor treats a patient doesn’t mean the doctor agrees with what the patient’s beliefs are.”
He added, “You seem to have turned your back on the views you used to hold dear.”
A Labour source told Jewish News: “Lord Wolfson, the Conservatives’ Shadow Attorney General, has chosen representing Abramovich over advising his party on the most pressing geopolitical issue of our time. How has Kemi Badenoch allowed this to happen? When was the decision made? And how many other clients does Lord Wolfson work for which conflict him advising the Conservative Party?”
Wolfson had previously served as the justice minister in the House of Lords during the early years of Boris Johnson’s premiership before resigning over the partygate scandal prior to being appointed in his current role in November 2024.
He is a long-time congregant of Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue and an outspoken supporter of Israel.
Hermer meanwhile is a former sabbatical officer for the Union of Jewish Students, and is a member of Alyth Synagogue in Temple Fortune.
The pair have spoken fondly of one another outside of the political world.
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