The Jewish vote: Time to grow up

Abstract

The electoral significance of Jewish voters in Great Britain has long been recognised by politicians. Yet demonstrations of Jewish voting potential are discouraged by Jewish leaders. After 1945 an upwardly mobile but still working‐class Jewish electorate became disenchanted with the Labour Party. Conservative politicians were quick to exploit this alienation. In the 1960s and 1970s Jewish voters became substantially middle class and also substantially Conservative in outlook. At the same time, far from being totally assimilated within British political culture, Jewish voters in Britain are capable of independent political behaviour, sometimes in marked contrast to national or regional trends.