List of British Jewish politicians

This is a list of Jews who served as politicians in the United Kingdom and its predecessor states or who were born in the United Kingdom and had notable political careers abroad.

Jewish Leaders
Pre–1900

Benjamin Disraeli (1868–1881) Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1900–1974

Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel (1931–1935) Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)

1974–2000

Michael Howard (2003–2005) Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)

2000–2020

Ed Miliband (2010–2015) Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

2020–present

Zack Polanski Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

British MPs
A law in place until the 1850s stated that no member of the Jewish religion could be elected to Parliament. Some Christian denominations were similarly prohibited. If elected, a member would be excluded if he refused to swear an oath of abjuration with a strong Christian wording.

British Members of Parliament listed chronologically by first election date (in brackets)

Pre–1900

 * Lord George Gordon (1774–1780) Converted to Judaism
 * Sampson Eardley (1770–1802) Father was Jewish. E Tory MP
 * Manasseh Masseh Lopes (1802–1806, 1807–1808, 1812–1819 & 1820–1829) Lopes converted to Christianity in 1802, and later the same year he entered Parliament as a Tory MP
 * Ralph Lopes (1814–1819, 1831–1837, 1841–1847 & 1849–1854) Conservative MP.
 * Ralph Bernal (1818–1841 & 1842–1852) His father was Jewish, Whig MP
 * David Ricardo (1819–1823) Ricardo converted to Christianity in 1793. Whig MP
 * David Ricardo (the younger) (1832–1833) His father was Jewish, Liberal MP
 * Benjamin Disraeli (1837–1876), Conservative MP and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Born Jewish but baptised at an early age.
 * John Lewis Ricardo (1841–1862) Liberal MP
 * Ralph Bernal Osborne (1841–1874) His grandfather was Jewish, but Bernal Osborne was baptised. Liberal MP
 * Lionel de Rothschild (1847–1868 & 1869–1874), Liberal MP.
 * David Salomons (1851–1852 & 1859–1873) Liberal MP.
 * Massey Lopes (1857–1885) Conservative MP
 * Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1859–1874) Liberal MP
 * Francis Henry Goldsmid (1860–1878) Liberal MP
 * Frederick Goldsmid (1865–1866) Liberal MP
 * Nathan Rothschild (1865–1885) Liberal MP
 * Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda (1865–1880) Liberal MP
 * Julian Goldsmid (1866–1896) Liberal and later Liberal Unionist MP
 * George Jessel (1868–1873) Liberal MP
 * Henry Lopes (1868–1876) Conservative MP
 * John Simon(1868–1888) Liberal MP
 * Farrer Herschell (1874–1885) Liberal MP
 * Saul Isaac (1874–1880) Conservative MP
 * Henry Drummond Wolff (1874–1885) Conservative MP
 * Arthur Cohen (1880–1888) Liberal MP
 * Henry de Worms (1880–1895) Conservative MP
 * Harry Levy-Lawson (1885–1892, 1893–1895, 1905–1906 & 1910–1916) Liberal and later Liberal Unionist MP
 * Lionel Louis Cohen (1885–1887) Conservative MP
 * Lewis Henry Isaacs (1885–1892) Conservative MP
 * Samuel Montagu (1885–1900) Liberal MP
 * Ferdinand de Rothschild (1885–1898) Liberal and later Liberal Unionist Party MP
 * Herbert Jessel (1896–1906 & 1910–1918) Liberal Unionist and later Conservative MP
 * Sydney Stern (1891–1895) Liberal MP
 * Herbert Leon (1891–1895) Liberal MP
 * Benjamin Cohen (1892–1906) Conservative MP
 * Coningsby Disraeli (1892–1906) Conservative MP
 * Henry Lopes (1892–1900) Conservative MP
 * Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1892–1910) Conservative MP
 * Harry Samuel (1895–1906 & 1910–1922) Conservative MP
 * Arthur Strauss (1895–1900 & 1910–1918) Liberal Unionist Party and later Conservative MP
 * Walter Rothschild (1899–1910) Liberal Unionist and later Conservative MP
 * Edward Sassoon (1899–1912) Liberal Unionist MP

1900–1939

 * Stuart Samuel (1900–1916) Liberal MP
 * Herbert Samuel (1902–1918 & 1929–1935) Liberal MP and Leader of the Liberal Party
 * Rufus Isaacs (1904–1913) Liberal MP
 * Charles Henry (1906–1919) Liberal MP
 * Arthur Lever (1906–1910 & 1922–1923) Liberal MP
 * Maurice Levy (1906–1918) Liberal MP
 * Philip Magnus (1906–1922) Conservative MP
 * Alfred Mond (1906–1928) Liberal and then Conservative MP
 * Edwin Samuel Montagu (1906–1922) Liberal MP. Montagu was the third practising British Jew to enter the Cabinet and was strongly opposed to Zionism, which he called "a mischievous political creed", and opposed the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which he considered anti-Semitic.
 * Horatio Myer (1906–1910) Liberal MP
 * Harry Primrose (1906–1910) Liberal MP
 * Herbert Raphael (1906–1918) Liberal MP
 * Bertram Straus (1906–1910) Liberal MP
 * Edward Strauss (1906–1910, 1910–1923, 1927–1929 & 1931–1939) Liberal and then Liberal National MP
 * Felix Cassel (1910–1916) Conservative MP
 * Sydney Goldman (1910–1918) Conservative MP
 * Frank Goldsmith (1910–1918) Conservative MP
 * Trebitsch Lincoln (1910) Liberal MP
 * Neil Primrose (1910–1917) Liberal MP
 * Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1910–1923) Conservative MP
 * Maurice de Forest (1911–1918) – Liberal MP
 * Leo Amery (1911–1945) Conservative MP
 * Samuel Samuel (1913–1934) Conservative MP
 * Percy Alfred Harris (1916–1918 & 1922–1945) Liberal MP
 * Gerald Hurst (1918–1923 & 1924–1935) Conservative MP
 * Arthur Samuel (1918–1937) Conservative MP
 * Maurice Alexander (1922–1923) Liberal MP
 * Manny Shinwell (1922–1924, 1928–1931 & 1935–1970) Labour MP
 * Leonard Benjamin Franklin (1923–1924) Liberal MP
 * Ernest Spero (1923–1924 & 1929–1930) Liberal and then Labour MP
 * Leslie Haden-Guest (1923–1927 & 1937–1950) Labour MP
 * Leslie Hore-Belisha (1923–1945), Liberal and then Liberal National MP
 * Henry Mond (1923–1924 & 1929–1931) Liberal and then Conservative MP
 * Frank Meyer (1924–1929) Conservative MP
 * Isidore Salmon (1924–1941) Conservative MP
 * Henry Slesser (1924–1929) Labour MP
 * Harry Louis Nathan (1929–1935 & 1937–1940), Liberal and then Labour MP
 * Marion Phillips (1929–1931) Labour MP
 * James de Rothschild (1929–1945) Liberal MP
 * George Strauss (1929–1931 & 1934–1979) Labour MP
 * Alfred Beit (1931–1945) Conservative MP
 * Alfred Chotzner (1931–1934) Conservative MP
 * Louis Gluckstein (1931–1945) Conservative MP
 * Barnett Janner (1931–1935 & 1945–1970) Liberal and then Labour MP
 * Dudley Joel (1931–1941) Conservative MP
 * Thomas Levy (1931–1945) Conservative MP
 * Abraham Lyons (1931–1945) Conservative MP
 * Marcus Samuel (1934–1942) Conservative MP
 * Henry Strauss (1935–1945 & 1946–1955) Conservative MP
 * Sydney Silverman (1935–1968) Labour MP 1935
 * Daniel Frankel (1935–1945) Labour MP
 * Lewis Silkin (1936–1950) Labour MP
 * Daniel Lipson (1937–1950) Independent Conservative MP

1940–1973

 * John Mack (1942–1951) Labour MP
 * Herschel Lewis Austin (1945–1950) Labour MP
 * Louis Comyns (1945–1950) Labour MP
 * John Diamond (1945–1951 & 1957–1970) Labour MP
 * Maurice Edelman (1945–1976) Labour MP
 * Mont Follick, (1945–1955) Labour MP
 * Harold Lever (1945–1979) Labour MP
 * George Jeger (1945–1971) Labour MP
 * Santo Jeger (1945–1953) Labour MP
 * Benn Levy (1945–1950) Labour MP
 * Ian Mikardo (1945–1959 & 1964–1987) Labour MP
 * Maurice Orbach (1945–1959 & 1964–1979) Labour MP
 * Phil Piratin (1945–1950) Communist Party of Great Britain MP
 * Samuel Segal (1945–1950) Labour MP
 * Julius Silverman (1945–1983) Labour MP
 * Barnett Stross (1945–1966) Labour MP
 * David Weitzman (1945–1979) Labour MP
 * Austen Albu, (1948–1974) Labour MP
 * Julian Amery (1950–1992) Conservative MP
 * Leslie Lever (1950–1970) Labour MP
 * Gerald Nabarro (1950–1973) Conservative MP
 * Frank Allaun (1955–1983) Labour MP
 * Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid (1955–1974) Conservative MP
 * Keith Joseph (1956–1987) Conservative MP
 * Philip Goodhart (1957–1992) Conservative MP
 * Leo Abse (1958–1987) Labour MP
 * Michael Cliffe (1958–1964) Labour MP
 * Myer Galpern (1959–1979) Labour MP
 * David Ginsburg (1959–1983) Labour and later Social Democratic Party MP
 * John Mendelson (1959–1978) Labour MP
 * John Silkin (1963–1987) Labour MP
 * Joel Barnett (1964–1983), Labour MP
 * Edmund Dell (1964–1979) Labour MP
 * Reginald Freeson (1964–1987), Labour MP
 * David Kerr (1964–1970) Labour MP
 * Robert Maxwell (1964–1970), Labour MP
 * Maurice Miller (1964–1987) Labour MP
 * Paul Rose (1964–1979) Labour MP
 * Samuel Silkin (1964–1983) Labour MP
 * Robert Sheldon (1964–2001), Labour MP
 * Renée Short (1964–1987) Labour MP
 * Eric Moonman (1966–1970 & 1974–1979) Labour MP
 * Robert Adley (1970–1993) Conservative MP
 * Jack d'Avigdor-Goldsmid (1970–1974) Conservative MP
 * Sally Oppenheim-Barnes (1970–1987) Conservative MP
 * Stanley Clinton-Davis (1970–1983) Labour MP
 * Michael Fidler (1970–1974) Conservative MP
 * Geoffrey Finsberg (1970–1992) Conservative MP
 * Greville Janner (1970–1997) Labour MP
 * Toby Jessel (1970–1997) Conservative MP
 * Gerald Kaufman (1970–2017), Labour MP
 * Anthony Meyer (1970–1997), Conservative MP
 * Harold Soref (1970–1974) Conservative MP
 * Clement Freud (1973–1987) Liberal MP
 * Tim Sainsbury (1973–1997) Conservative MP

1974–2000

 * Leon Brittan (1974–1988), Conservative MP
 * Ivan Lawrence (1974–1997), Conservative MP
 * Nigel Lawson (1974–1992), Conservative MP, Secretary of State for Energy (1981-1983) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1983-1989)
 * Millie Miller (1974–1977), Labour MP
 * Malcolm Rifkind (1974–1997 & 2005–2015), Conservative MP
 * Anthony Steen (1974–2010), Conservative MP
 * Alf Dubs (1979–1987), Labour MP
 * David Winnick (1979–2017), Labour MP
 * Mark Wolfson (1979–1997), Conservative MP
 * Alex Carlile (1983–1997), Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP
 * Harry Cohen (1983–2010), Labour MP
 * Edwina Currie (1983–1997), Conservative MP
 * Michael Howard (1983–2010), Conservative MP and Leader of the Conservative Party
 * Phillip Oppenheim (1983–1997), Conservative MP
 * David Sumberg (1983–1997), Conservative MP
 * Irvine Patnick (1987–1997), Conservative MP
 * Gerry Steinberg (1987–2005), Labour MP
 * Michael Fabricant (1992–2024), Conservative MP
 * Peter Mandelson (1992–2004), Labour MP
 * Barbara Roche (1992–2005), Labour MP
 * Margaret Hodge (1994–2024), Labour MP
 * John Bercow (1997–2019), Conservative MP and Speaker of the House of Commons
 * Peter Bradley (1997–2005), Labour MP
 * Ivor Caplin (1997–2005), Labour MP
 * Louise Ellman (1997–2019), Labour and later Independent MP
 * Fabian Hamilton (1997–present), Labour MP
 * Evan Harris (1997–2010), Liberal Democrat MP
 * Oona King (1997–2005), Labour MP
 * Oliver Letwin (1997–2019), Conservative MP
 * Julian Lewis (1997–present), Conservative MP
 * Ivan Lewis (1997–2019), Labour MP and later independent MP
 * Marcus Lipton (1945–1978) Labour MP
 * Gillian Merron (1997–2010), Labour MP

2000–present

 * Jonathan Djanogly (2001–2024), Conservative MP; Djanogly was born in London to a British Jewish family, the son of multimillionaire textile manufacturer Sir Harry Djanogly and Lady Djanogly.
 * Damien Egan (2024–present), MP for Kingswood
 * Paul Goodman (2001–2010) Conservative MP
 * Alan Greengross (15 April 1929 – 13 August 2018) was a British politician, who served as the final leader of the Conservative Party on the Greater London Council (GLC).
 * Sally Greengross, Baroness Greengross, (29 June 1935 – 23 June 2022) was a British politician. Awarded an OBE in the 1993 New Year Honours, Greengross was raised to the peerage as Baroness Greengross, of Notting Hill in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 2000,  sitting as a crossbencher.


 * George Osborne (2001–2017), Conservative MP
 * Ed Miliband (2005–present), Labour MP and former Leader of the Labour Party; son of Ralph Miliband, a leading Marxist intellectual.
 * David Miliband (2001–2013), Labour MP; son of Ralph Miliband, a leading Marxist intellectual.
 * Susan Kramer (2005–2010), Liberal Democrat MP
 * Lynne Featherstone (2005–2015), Liberal Democrat MP
 * Brooks Newmark (2005–2015), Conservative MP
 * Neville Sandelson (1971–1983) Labour and later Social Democratic Party MP
 * Grant Shapps (2005–2024), Conservative MP; Grant's brother, Andre Shapps was member of Big Audio Dynamite (BAD) and cousin Mick Jones was key figure in British punk rock of late 1970s, and founding member of the Clash.
 * Lee Scott (2005–2015) Scott is an officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel. In the 2021 Essex County Council election he was elected to the ward of Chigwell & Loughton Broadway. From 1988 to 1998, he was Campaign Director for the United Jewish Israel Appeal.
 * Luciana Berger (2010–2019), Labour Co-operative MP and later Liberal Democrat MP; served as director of Labour Friends of Israel. Berger became a vice president of the Jewish Leadership Council in June 2019.
 * Michael Ellis (2010–2024), Conservative MP
 * Sheila Faith (1979–1983), Conservative MP
 * Lance Forman (born October 1962), politician and businessman, who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London between 2 July 2019 and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU; affiliated with Conservative Party, Forman was elected to the European Parliament as Brexit Party MEP.
 * Zac Goldsmith (2010–2016 & 2017–2019), Conservative MP
 * Robert Halfon (2010–2024), Conservative MP; Chief of Staff to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Oliver Letwin. He was also the political director of Conservative Friends of Israel.
 * Richard Harrington (2010–2019), Conservative MP; Harrington was appointed Minister of State for Refugees, also in charge of co-ordinating UK's response to humanitarian crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine; also elevated to the House of Lords after being given a Life Peerage.
 * Julian Huppert (2010–2015), Liberal Democrat MP
 * Daniel Korski (born April 1977 ) is a Danish-born British political adviser and businessperson. He worked as deputy head of the Number 10 Policy Unit for David Cameron and currently serves as a vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council. He founded the business PUBLIC, which aims to support technology companies get public sector contracts.
 * Edward Lyons (1966–1983), Labour and later Social Democratic Party MP
 * Andrew Percy (2010–2024), Conservative MP; has been part of a number of delegations of the Conservative Friends of Israel group,
 * Lucy Frazer (born 17 May 1972), politician and barrister previously serving as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport; a member of Conservative Party, she was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South East Cambridgeshire; previously served as Solicitor General for England and Wales, Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, Minister of State for Transport and Minister of State for Housing and Planning. Prior to being elected to Parliament, she practised as a barrister, taking silk. Soon after graduating, Frazer interned at the Israeli Ministry of Justice.
 * Dominic Raab (born 25 February 1974), British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from 2021 to 2022.
 * James Schneider (born 17 June 1987), is an English political organiser, journalist and writer; co-founded the left-wing grassroots movement Momentum; was PR advisor to Jeremy Corbyn as Director of Strategic Communications.
 * Ruth Smeeth (2015–2019), Labour MP; from 2010 to 2015, she was a deputy director of anti-racist organisation, Hope not Hate. She has also been employed by the Community Security Trust and has worked for the Board of Deputies of British Jews. In June 2020, she became chief executive of Index on Censorship. Smeeth was appointed an Honorary Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve in July 2021.
 * Alex Sobel (2017–present), Labour MP; born in Leeds to parents who migrated from Israel in 1971.
 * Ian Levy (2019–2024), Conservative MP
 * Charlotte Nichols (2019–present), Labour MP
 * Christopher Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat (born 23 February 1937), is a British Conservative Party politician, businessman, company director, journalist and author. He was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1977, then a member of the European Commission, and in 1993 was appointed as a life peer, with a seat in the House of Lords, in which he remains active.
 * Ed Vaizey, Baron Vaizey of Didcot, (born 5 June 1968), politician, media columnist, political commentator and barrister of Polish Jewish ancestry, who was Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries; a member of the Conservative Party, he  was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wantage from 2005 to 2019. He is a fellow of the Henry Jackson Society, and was raised to the peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours. He was created Baron Vaizey of Didcot, of Wantage in the County of Oxfordshire in the afternoon of 1 September.
 * Anthony Young, Baron Young of Norwood Green (born 14 April 1942), Labour Party life peer in the House of Lords; previously General Secretary of  National Communications Union (1989–1995), then joint General Secretary (1995–1998), then Senior Deputy General Secretary (1998–2002) of Communication Workers Union;  also served as a Governor of the BBC; in 2002 Birthday Honours awarded a knighthood,; was created life peer with title Baron Young of Norwood Green, of Norwood Green in the London Borough of Ealing;
 * Matthew Patrick (2024-present), Labour MP.

Peers

 * Alma Birk, Baroness Birk, Labour
 * Lord Baron Daniel Finkelstein (born 30 August 1962), journalist and politician; writes for Jewish Chronicle; former executive editor of The Times.; former chairman of Policy Exchange; chair of the think tank Onward; made a member of the House of Lords in August 2013, sitting as a Conservative.
 * Dora Gaitskell, Baroness Gaitskell, Labour
 * Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman (born 8 March 1961), prolific author, political theorist, academic, social commentator, and Labour life peer in the House of Lords
 * Dean Godson, Baron Godson (born 26 August 1962)
 * Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, Labour
 * Arnold Goodman, Baron Goodman, Labour
 * Richard Harrington, Baron Harrington of Watford, Lord (born 4 November 1957), in 2022, appointed Minister of State for Refugees, in charge of co-ordinating the UK's response to humanitarian crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine; elevated to House of Lords after being given Life Peerage.
 * Sydney Jacobson, Baron Jacobson, Crossbench
 * Michael Levy, Baron Levy (born 11 July 1944), Labour Party peer; was chief fundraiser for the Labour Party and Tony Blair's special envoy to the Middle East; founded Magnet Records, one of the most successful independent labels of its day; involved in fundraising for Jewish and Israeli causes and ran the Labour Leader's Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 general election; created a life peer on 23 September 1997 as Baron Levy, of Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet; described by The Jerusalem Post as "undoubtedly the notional leader of British Jewry". He was a founding member of the Jewish Leadership Council, the leadership of UK Jewish community and has close ties with Israeli political leaders. His son, Daniel Levy was assistant to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and to  former Knesset member Yossi Beilin and is now President of the US Middle East Project; before that was Head of the Middle East Department of the European Council of Foreign Relations and Levy was associated with the Labour Friends of Israel From 1998 until 2007, he acted as Prime Minister Blair's personal envoy to the Middle East.
 * Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, The Right Honourable The Lord Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010.
 * Jonathan Mendelsohn, Baron Mendelsohn (born 30 December 1966 ), lobbyist and Labour political organiser; was appointed Director of General Election Resources for party in 2007; life peer member of House of Lords and chairman of 888 Holdings, a gambling company; founded LLM Communications, lobbying firm with easy access to new Labour Government; He has been a spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company PartyGaming. donated money to Peter Hain's 2007 deputy leadership campaign; according to The Daily Telegraph, "Mr Mendelsohn is steeped in the north London Jewish community"; former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel. and married to Baroness Nicola Mendelsohn, whom The Daily Telegraph called "the most powerful woman in the British tech industry".
 * Maurice Peston, Baron Peston of Mile End, Labour; father of Robert Peston.
 * Beatrice Plummer, Baroness Plummer, Labour
 * Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota, Labour; mother of Sir Nicholas Serota
 * Christopher Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat (born 23 February 1937) is a British Conservative Party politician, businessman, company director, journalist and author. He was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1977, then a member of the European Commission, and in 1993 was appointed as a life peer, with a seat in the House of Lords, in which he remains active.
 * Robert Winston, Baron Winston, (born 15 July 1940), British professor, author, journalist, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and Labour Party politician.He is a member of Labour Friends of Israel; father of Ben Winston
 * Leonard Wolfson, Baron Wolfson, Conservative
 * Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, Crossbench

People with careers abroad

 * Julius Vogel, eighth Premier and first Jewish prime minister of New Zealand.