General election round-up: Jewish candidates win seats across the country

Hampstead and Kilburn, a top Tory target, was held by popular MP Tulip Siddiq with a 15,500 majority.

Labour candidate Wes Streeting, who took Ilford North by just 589 votes two years ago, retained the seat by a margin of almost 10,000 votes over his Jewish Conservative rival, Lee Scott. Independent Doris Osen, thought to be one of the oldest female general election candidate ever, failed to topple Mr Streeting in Ilford North, winning just 368 votes.

In Tottenham, the seat with the ninth-biggest proportion of Jewish voters, was won by David Lammy by a shade under 35,000.

Top Tory target Bury South, in north Manchester, was held by veteran Labour figure Ivan Lewis by 6,000 votes, while Labour’s Graham Stringer retained Blackley and Broughto, also in Manchester.

Voters in the Liverpool Wavertree returned Jewish Labour candidate Luciana Berger to Westminster with a majority almost 30,000.

In nrighbouring Liverpool Riverside, long-serving Jewish MP Louise Ellman won for Labour with another comfortable majority, while her party colleague Ruth Smeeth – once thought to be in danger in Stoke-on-Trent North - was returned with more than 50 per cent of the vote.

On the other side of the Pennines longstanding Labour Fabian Hamilton retained Leeds North East comfortably, while Alex Sobel became Britain’s newest Jewish MP in Leeds North West, beating the Liberal Democrats by more than 4,000 votes.

Daniel Zeichner, for Labour, and Julian Huppert, for the Liberal Democrats, faced off in Cambridge. It was the former who prevailed, with a majority of 12,661, vastly increased on 2015, when Mr Zeichner won by only 599.

The Conservative Party gained Renfrewshire East – home to a large section of Glasgow’s Jewish community. Paul Masterston won it from the SNP by 4,700 votes.

Rhea Wolfson, thought to be a rising star in the Labour Party, was unable to unseat SNP incumbent Hannah Bardell in Livingston, losing by fewer than 4,000 votes.

Harrow East and Chipping Barnet, in north London, were tight Tory holds on the night. Bob Blackman and Theresa Villiers were returned with margins of 1,700 and 353 votes, respectively.

Harrow West is still red though, with Gareth Thomas beating off the challenge of Jewish Tory candidate Hannah David and increasing his majority to 13,314.

Conservative Oliver Dowden held onto Hertsmere, in south Hertfordshire, by almost 17,000 votes.

Fellow Tory Andrew Percy, who recently converted to Judaism, held the Brigg and Goole seat, which straddles Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Jonathan Djangoly, the son of textile manufacturer Sir Harry Djangoly, retained Huntingdon – Sir John Major’s former seat – for the Tories.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, running unopposed by the main parties, was comfortably returned in the Buckingham seat he has held since 1997, while Grant Shapps beat Labour’s Anawar Miah by 7,000 votes in Welwyn Hatfield.

Conservative Michael Ellis, MP in Northampton North since 2010, withstood a strong challenge from Labour’s Sally Keeble, who came within 807 votes of unseating him.

Incumbent Lucy Frazer held Cambridgeshire South East for the Tories too, winning 53.3 per cent of the vote.

Tory Michael Fabricant will once again represent the Staffordshire constituency of Lichfield, while Dorset West returned fellow Conservative Oliver Letwin.

Zac Goldsmith, who recently re-joined the Conservative party, took back the Richmond Park seat he lost in December’s by-election as an independent. He beat Lib Dem Sarah Olney  by just 45 votes, after four recounts. In stark contrast, he won the seat in 2015 by more than 23,000 votes.

Ian Austin had held on to Dudley North by the skin of his teeth. The Labour MP, who is the son of a Holocaust survivor, won by just 22 votes over the Tory candidate Les Jones after a recount.

No nail-biting needed for Ed Miliband however. The former Labour leader was re-elected in Doncaster North with a comfortable 14,000 majority.

John Woodcock MP, a former Labour Friends of Israel chair, held his seat in Barrow & Furness – but by a majority of just 209 votes.

The MP, who took the seat in 2010, narrowly fended off Tory Simon Fell, who won 22,383 votes to Mr Woodcock’s 22,592.

Labour Friends of Israel stalwart Mary Creagh has held on in Wakefield. The sitting MP since 2010, she won 22,987 votes – a 49.7 per cent share - beating Tory Antony Calvert who got 20,811 votes.

Labour’s Margaret Hodge, born in Egypt to Jewish refugees, won comfortably in Barking.

In Walsall North, it was a bad night for Labour veteran David Winnick who lost after serving in the West Midlands constituency for 38 years.

Mr Winnick, who at 83 was the oldest Jewish MP in the last Parliament, got 16,318 votes - not enough to beat Conservative candidate Eddie Hughes on 18,919 votes.

And Independent David Ward, who was sacked as a candidate by the Lib Dems after he was accused of posting antisemitic comments on social media, won 3,000 votes in Bradford East, a seat he held between 2010 and 2015. It was not enough to unseat Labour’s Imran Hussain, who got 65 per cent of the vote.