British voters open to a Jewish prime minister — but some are more welcoming than others

In this post, Professor Tim Bale of QMUL's School of Politics and International Relations, discusses the findings of new polling data on attitudes to Jewish political leaders. The data is based on research from Professor Bale's forthcoming book: Five Year Mission: The Labour Party under Ed Miliband. The horrific murder of four Jewish men in a Paris supermarket ago has understandably provoked a debate about levels of anti-Semitism throughout Europe, including, of course, the UK. According to some campaigning organisations things aren't good and may be getting worse. But what, if any, are the electoral implications' As part of my research on the Labour Party , I commissioned the polling company YouGov to find out how British voters would feel about a Jewish politician leading a political party and making it into Number 10. This might well happen sooner than many voters realise. Admittedly, the chances of Labour winning a comfortable overall majority look vanishingly small right now.