British Jews will vote overwhelmingly for the Conservatives, an exclusive JC poll has revealed.
Asked who they would support in next month’s general election, 69 per cent of Jewish voters said they would support the Tories. Only 22 per cent said they would vote Labour.
David Cameron enjoys substantial personal support among the community. He was said to have the best attitude towards British Jewry by 64 per cent of people. Labour leader Ed Miliband was seen as the best supporter of the community by only 13 per cent.
Other parties including the Liberal Democrats and Ukip barely registered any support. Two per cent said they would support the Lib Dems, slightly ahead of those planning to vote for Ukip.
In the election campaign’s second week, the only accurate polling of the voting intentions of the Jewish community showed Israel and the Middle East would feature highly at the ballot box.
Cameron was said to have the best attitude towards British Jewry by 64 per cent of people
Around 73 per cent of Jews said the political parties’ attitudes to Israel were “very” or “quite” important in influencing how they would vote.
The polling revealed that Mr Miliband’s approach to Israel and the Middle East is seen as toxic within the Jewish community. Just 10 per cent of people said he had the best approach, compared to 65 per cent who favoured Mr Cameron’s stance.
The Labour party itself fared worse than its leader, with its Israel policy attracting only eight per cent of Jewish voters. The Tory approach was preferred by 61 per cent.
The Lib Dems fared poorly across all the questions. The figures show the party’s support within the community has dropped substantially since 2010, when it attracted six per cent of Jewish voters. Only one per cent believe Nick Clegg and his colleagues know what is best for Israel.
Ukip’s apparent positioning as a pro-Israel party was backed by less than one per cent of Jews on the issue.
Further questions revealed that 78 per cent of British Jews plan to vote on May 7, suggesting the community is more politically engaged than the public generally, and more than other minority groups.
Manchester Jews were slightly more likely to vote Labour than those in London, yet those in the north found Mr Miliband, and his party’s Israel policy, less attractive.
The poll was carried out for the JC by Survation, which questioned a representative sample of more than 560 British Jews over the past week.
Read the full results of the Survation poll here.
