Those who've never had the good fortune to visit Bury South – political home of turncoat MP Christian Wakeford – may well consider this corner of Northern England to be some kind of post-industrial wasteland.
Certainly the members of the media who flocked to the area in the light of the Tory MP's defection last week almost exclusively trained their lenses on Radcliffe, a former mill town which makes up about a third of the constituency. Cue weatherbeaten folk pointing to shuttered shops and lamenting that nothing's been done here for years.
And it's true. Having started my career at redoubtable local weeklies the Bury Times and the Radcliffe Times, this part of the borough was always gasping for regeneration.
Meanwhile the big story in other principal areas of Bury South didn't make the cut - namely Prestwich and Whitefield, two slices of north Manchester where an estimated 19% of the population is Jewish. Manchester has the second largest Jewish community in the UK outside London.
And so when the Honourable - or rather, dishonourable - member for Bury South made the short, duplicitous journey across Commons, the shockwaves across our community were palpable. The man we helped put in power on a promise of vanquishing the bleak despair of the Corbyn years was now supping with some of his former comrades.
During the 2019 election, many of Bury South's Jewish Labour voters turned away from their traditional political home to vote Tory. It was a collective protest and act of self-preservation in the face of institutionalised antisemitism amongst Her Majesty's Opposition.
Heck, so strong was the belief that we needed to mobilise that even our former MP, Ivan Lewis, a local Jewish boy who had held the seat for Labour since 1997 before quitting to become an independent, exhorted everyone to vote Conservative
Mr Wakeford seemed like a good call. Here was a man who quickly forged strong links with the Jewish community and made us feel we were safe – as much as we can ever feel safe – from the toxicity of Corbyn's Labour. At countless communal schmoozes and local events he was a good fit, understanding sensitivities and even – so he told my daughter when she met him - learning Hebrew (though, setting aside our strong accents, we do speak English here in the north).
Having a newly minted MP who clearly offered more than tactical tokenism was a huge bonus
That's why his political exodus is an act of such supreme betrayal to the Jews of Bury South. Discussions amongst friends, in shul and, of course, round this week's Friday night table, resoundingly concluded that Wakeford had sold his soul to save his political career.
Of course I understand Wakeford`s disgust with Downing Street parties and other actions of the government. Nor would I ever minimise the anguish of those who followed draconian rules whilst No 10 apparatchiks lounged in evening sunshine over a fine Merlot and a slab of Brie.
And yet the sense of abandonment amongst Jews around here is seismic. Watching our new Labour MP shake hands with Starmer - who, remember, at the time of the 2019 election supported Corbyn's campaign - was bad enough. Witnessing Wakeford take his seat near the likes of John McDonnell and other advocates of Corbyn utterly turned the stomach. Especially since only last month David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, admitted at Limmud that he was “staggered” that some individuals with deeply antisemitic views remain in the Labour Party.
Wakeford`s defection isn`t just a stinging act of disloyalty for his Jewish constituents. Many residents of Bury South will have voted blue, keen to atomise any hope of Corbyn getting the keys to Number Ten. But for Jewish people this is personal - as if all the concerns we shared about our place under Labour was for the birds.
If Wakeford really couldn't abide remaining a Tory MP for a moment longer, why didn't he resign and trigger a by-election? After all – oh, the hypocrisy! - in September 2020, he actually backed the Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill, which would enable constituents to recall their MP and call a by-election if they 'voluntarily change their political party affiliation'.
So thanks for nothing, Mr Wakeford. It seems the Jewish vote amounts to a pound of flesh after all.
