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Fond farewell as feisty MP Louise Mensch leaves the UK

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Louise Mensch has been wished well by colleagues and friends as she leaves the House of Commons to live in the US.

The Tory MP for Corby, who is not Jewish, has carved out a name for herself in her two years in parliament as a vocal supporter of Israel and Jewish causes.

As a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, she heavily criticised the BBC for its weak coverage of the murder of five members of the same Israeli family and recently exacted an acknowledgment of this from the outgoing director-general.

Her connection with the community dates back to her time as a student in Oxford, when she joined Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s Chabad L’Chaim Society. Meeting Rabbi Boteach, she said, was her first intimation “that antisemitism remained a major problem”.

Last year, she married the Jewish rock promoter Peter Mensch, who manages the band Metallica. This week, she said she was resigning in order to settle in New York with him and her three children from her first marriage.

Stuart Polak, director of Conservative Friends of Israel, said: “I wish Louise all the best and I have no doubt that she will continue to support Israel in all her future endeavours.”

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