Labour conference was a mixed bag for the community

It was clear that I was not the only newbie at Labour Party Conference this year.

Conference floor reflected the change that the Labour Party has undergone in the past couple of years. I

was proud to attend this year’s Conference in Brighton with the Jewish Labour Movement, campaigning and debating alongside them.

The Conference has been a mixed bag for the Jewish community. The JLM Rule Change is a vital change to Labour’s Rule Book, and it being passed by 96% is testament to the hard work put in by JLM. Hearing antisemitic tropes repeated on Conference floor is never easy, but I spent the week campaigning for the rule change to be passed, encouraging people to attend JLM’s two fringes, and supporting JLM in delivering the Labour Party’s training session on ‘Confronting Antisemitism and Engaging Jewish voters’. Members want to engage, they want to win back the Jewish community, and they want to turn around the figures such as one poll which said that only 13% of our community is voting Labour.

The Labour Party has spent the week discussing every topic under the sun. Yet again, anti-Semitisim has taken centre stage for all the wrong reasons.

Some fringe meetings (or fringe of fringe meetings) were openly and disgracefully hostile to the Jewish community.

However, I’m heartened by the friends of the Jewish community who prepared speeches to support JLM’s Rule Change, the colleagues who helped us get the word out about the rule change, and the allies who yet again have stood side by side with the Jewish community.

Labour Party Conference was an incredible experience.

From dancing with MPs late into the night to campaigning to change the country, I can’t wait to get more involved with the Jewish Labour Movement, join my Labour Club at University and continue the good work that was done this Conference.

This week I saw at first hand how hard work inside the Labour Party can deliver meaningful change.