Shechita UK has welcomed the appointment of Theresa Villiers as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

A spokesman for the kosher meat defence organisation said the Chipping Barnet MP was “a long-standing friend of our community with whom we have often enjoyed positive discussions”.

The government’s longstanding policy was, he added, “to uphold our rights with regard to shechita and we are confident that the new Secretary of State will endorse that position to us at the appropriate time”.

Mrs Villiers retained her seat at the 2017 election only by the narrow margin of 353, in a constituency where Jews and Muslims between represent nearly 15 per cent of the local electorate.

However, George Eustice, who has returned as a minister to the department after resigning earlier this year because of delays over Brexit, is a critic of religious methods of slaughter.

Only a few weeks ago, he instigated a parliamentary debate in which he argued MPs should be allowed a free vote on whether animals should be stunned before slaughter (which would invalidate shechita).

Although he would stop short of a ban on kosher or halal methods of slaughter, he said he believed “major improvements” could be made.

He also challenged organisations such as Shechita UK over how long it took for animals undergoing religious slaughter to lose consciousness.