But critics have highlighted her past support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
Much of this unease stems from a 2014 protest in Birmingham, when Mahmood – then a backbench MP – joined an anti-Israel demonstration which forced a Sainsbury’s supermarket to close for an afternoon over claims it was selling products from Israeli settlements.
Mahmood said at the time: “We managed to close down that store at peak time on a Saturday. This is how we can make a difference.”
Labour's new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, at an anti-Israel protest in 2014 (Photo: X)[Missing Credit]
The protest drew rebukes from communal leaders: the Board of Deputies called it “rabble rousing”, while the Jewish Leadership Council accused her of promoting “mob rule”.
Anti-racism group Campaign Against Antisemitism said: "Shabana Mahmood’s history of attending anti-Israel marches and even forcing a Sainsbury’s to close because it stocked Israeli food do not exactly inspire confidence in her ability to bring the marches under control and stop lawless and intimidatory forms of protest. She is now in charge of protecting our country from criminality within the ‘free Palestine’ marches and terrorist saboteurs like Palestine Action who were so proud of wrecking RAF jets recently.
"British Jews are extremely fearful as far-left and Islamist extremists drive surging antisemitism and anti-British radicalism, so we need a home secretary who is willing to be forceful and make firm law enforcement the priority, otherwise matters will get exponentially worse.”
But Alex Hearn, director of Labour Against Antisemitism, told the JC that Mahmood “should not be judged solely on the basis of a poor decision 11 years ago”.
Hearn did, however, call on Mahmood to clarify her current position: “She should make a statement to clarify her position and reassure the Jewish community.” He added: “Her record has shown consistent support for a two-state solution.”
Several other key communal figures believe Mahmood’s record since the Sainsbury’s protest more than a decade ago is reassuring.
Lord Katz, former chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, said: “Shabana Mahmood was a steadfast ally of JLM on Labour's ruling NEC in the fight against antisemitism under Corbyn,” he told the JC. “She'll be equally steadfast as our new Home Secretary in fighting hate and extremism. Her priorities are the PM's: making our streets safe and our borders secure.”
Unlike Starmer, Mahmood refused to serve in a shadow cabinet under Corbyn, with whom said she "strongly disagreed". During the previous leader’s tenure, she held a position on Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) and fought those on the party’s hard left.
Danny Stone MBE, director of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, credited Mahmood for taking “direct action against antisemitism.
“She has been kind, thoughtful, and supportive in all of my dealings with her, including on serious issues of conspiratorial antisemitism,” he posted on social media when she was first appointed to government as justice secretary.
One senior communal source said that although there will “naturally be concern about the Shabana of 2014 and her protest/BDS antics”, she was "a key ally of the Jewish community during the Corbyn years, taking a pivotal role on the NEC in fighting antisemitism.”
Other Labour figures echoed those sentiments. One senior source said Mahmood had been “very good” at the height of the party’s antisemitism crisis and another Jewish Labour MP said: “She’s a long-standing ally of the Jewish community” and “a supporter of a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign Palestine.”
Michael Rubin, director of Labour Friends of Israel, added: “Shabana stood with the Jewish community in the battle against antisemitism in the Labour Party. She is an ally in the pursuit of a two-state solution and using outdated stories to mischaracterise what she believes is totally unfair.”
Legal trio: (from left) Solicitor General Sarah Sackman, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Attorney General Richard Hermer (right) at their swearing-in (photo: gov.uk)[Missing Credit]
But she has not only fought extremism within the Labour party; she has also tackled it within her community, while maintaining her Muslim faith.
Raised in Birmingham, she has spoken of growing up in a neighbourhood where crime was rife and her father kept a cricket bat behind their family-run shop counter for protection. Her politics, she says, are rooted in traditional values.
“If you were trying to put me in a box,” she told the Spectator earlier this year, “you would say social, small-c conservative.” She has cited Margaret Thatcher as a political influence and has said Labour must face a “moment of reckoning” on grooming gangs.
As justice secretary, she launched a review into facilities used to house Islamist extremists and controversially floated the idea of castrating sex offenders.
She declared a “natural affinity for the faith, family and flag element of Blue Labour”, a political wing of the party which thinks Labour needs to realign with its working-class roots.
Lord Glasman, Blue Labour founder, told the Times that Mahmood has been “unremitting in facing down Islamism” in her Birmingham constituency. “She hates that. She’s really religious. She believes it’s her moral duty to serve this country. That’s [the consequence of] her faith.”
Glasman suggested the new home secretary’s faith – her belief in God and her traditional values – underpin her work.
“I would say she’s just a completely normal human being, which is remarkable within Labour,” Glasman said. “She’s just a normal person who hates mugging, bullying, phone theft. She really thinks it’s disgusting.”
Several sources told the JC that Mahmood was under “massive pressure” in her Birmingham Ladywood constituency over Gaza during last year’s general election. She faced off Gaza independent candidate, Akhmed Yakoob, who reduced Mahmood’s majority from 28,582 in 2019 to just 3,421.
One communal source pointed out that Mahmood “didn’t break from the more moderate Labour line at the time, to significant personal and political cost”.
The source added: “In principle, as a Muslim woman who has faced massive prejudice herself and seen the problems of extremism first-hand, she may turn out to be an incredibly important partner in allowing free speech whilst fighting antisemitism, and finding ways to tackle extremism and support cohesion.”
On her first day in office, Mahmood’s emphasis on law and order was on clear display. She visited the Metropolitan Police control room while officers policed another round of anti-Israel protests, during which time nearly 900 pro-Palestine Action activists were arrested.
“Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing,” she posted on X, commending the Met’s handling of the protests.
A government spokesperson later reiterated her words, telling journalists that Starmer “thanks police for their tireless work” policing protests.
Lord Walney, the government’s former independent adviser on political violence, said he was “encouraged” by the home secretary’s first day in the role.
“It was encouraging to see the new Home Secretary make an immediate show of support for the police whose scarce resources are being drained by the irresponsible stunts organised by Palestine Action,” he said.
Walney acknowledged the disquiet over Mahmood’s past affiliation with PSC, but he argued that her more recent experiences – particularly the abuse she’s faced from within her own community – suggest a politician whose instincts are aligned with the demands of her new office.
“I know many have been concerned by her past support for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign but in recent years Shabana has had to endure appalling intimidation from Muslim activists seeking to push Labour into more hardline positions. I look forward to supporting her to help tackle this threat to our democracy.”
The CST welcomed her appointment: “CST has had an excellent working relationship with Yvette Cooper and her Home Secretary predecessors. We look forward to meeting with Shabanna Mahmood and discussing our needs and those of our community.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Antisemitism has no place in our society and we are committed to tackling it in all its forms, working closely with policing and community partners to ensure the safety of Jewish communities.
“The Home Secretary was with the Metropolitan Police over the weekend and supports the action they took to arrest those suspected of supporting a terrorist organisation.”
