Sarah Sackman: Difference between revisions

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Sarah Sackman is a British barrister and Labour Party politician who serves as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley and Golders Green. She has gained prominence for her work in environmental and public law, as well as her political activities within the Labour Party.^[1]

Sarah Sackman was born and raised in East Finchley. She attended South Hampstead High School^[2] and JFS^{[citation needed]}, a Jewish secondary school in Kenton, London. Sackman went on to study at the University of Cambridge in 2003, where she graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor's in History. She attended at the same time as Wes Streeting.^[3][4][5][6] She would go on to obtain an LLM from Harvard Law School specialising in cities, housing, local government and poverty law. ^[7]

• LLM, Harvard Law School, LLM (Distinction) (Frank Knox scholarship)
• Graduate Diploma in Law, City University (Distinction)
• BA in History, Queens’ College, Cambridge, (First Class)

• School governor for four years at a state primary in Camden
• Stood for Parliament in her current seat in 2015^[8]
• Volunteer at Toynbee Hall Free Legal Advice Centre
• Judicial clerkship at the Supreme Court of Israel, Jerusalem (Inner Temple Scholarship) (2008)
• Human Rights training at the British Council in Yangon, Burma (2013)^[4]

Sarah took a Scholarship in 2008 as a Judicial clerkship at the Supreme Court of Israel, Jerusalem. She also took on Human Rights training at the British Council in Yangon, Burma in 2013.^[9]

From October 2008 Sackman worked as a Barrister and Housing expert for Francis Taylor Building a chambers specialising in planning law^[10][11].

Between September 2021 to 2024^[6] Sackman worked as a barrister at Matrix Chambers^[12] and worked on a number of cases mainly focused on Public and Environmental Law.

In 2017 The Markaz El Tathgheef el-Eslami group (MTE) bought north London Hippodrome with the intention of converting it into an Islamic centre; there were a number of objections from residents who cited concerns, such as parking and congestion, but some opposed the move on the grounds of a Muslim centre's being located in an area (Golders Green) with a large Jewish population.^[13] Sackman, acting for MTE, said it was hard to see how it has “not been treated differently to other religious groups who have previously used the building”.^[14] It is notable that in 2021 Hillsong Church purchased the venue.^[15]

In 2015 Sackman stood for the Labour Party in Finchley and Golders Green (UK Parliament constituency); she won the preliminary selection against Alon Or-Bach and Catherine Tuitt. ^[16]. She lost the election to the incumbent Mike Freer who won with a majoirty of 5,662 votes.

In 2024 Sackman stood again for the same constituency against Cllr Arjun Mittra and won the preliminary.^[17] Sackman stood on supporting economic growth particularly in our small businesses, cutting business rates for small businesses and freezing energy price, invest in skills and give grants to provide work for young unemployed. Putting more money into the NHS, a new system where care for the elderly. Get more police back on the streets.^[18] She holds that a Labour government would continue to regard British ties with Israel as important. But she said it must continue to advocate for a negotiated peace with the Palestinians, and for “democratic values”.^[19] Sackman seat was backed and by a number of Labour politicians including

• The former PM Gordon Brown^[20]
• The current PM Keir Starmer^[21]
• MP Wes Streeting^[22]
• MP Bridget Phillipson^[23]
• MP Jonathan Reynolds ^[24]
• The former MP Dame Margaret Hodge^[25]
• The former MP Dame Louise Ellman^[26]
• The former MP Luciana Berger^[27] who notably stood in the same constituency in 2019 United Kingdom general election for the Liberal Democrats (UK)

Sackman won the election with a majority of 4,581 votes.^[28] In her victory speech Sackman said the community would “triumph over hate” in a campaign in which Labour’s record on tackling anti-semitism came under the spotlight.^[29]

Sackman is a member of

• UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA)

Sackman has served as

• School governor for four years in state primary in Camden.
• Volunteer at Toynbee Hall Free Legal Advice Centre.

Sarah is a member of New North London Synagogue, she is both Ashkenazi and Sephardi^[30], she has children and is married to a lawyer. They married in Bevis Marks Synagogue.^[31] Sarah's father is a north London solicitor of east European descent and her mother’s family moved from Spain, Italy and Morocco to Gibraltar 300 years ago. They own a 150-year old perfumery in the British enclave.^[32]