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The Jewish traditions that Starmer could bring to Downing Street
Keir Starmer's wife Victoria is Jewish, and the Prime Minister has said he holds Shabbat dinners every week
By Hannah Gillott | July 5, 2024
When Keir Starmer makes the move to Number 10 following his landslide victory, the Prime Minister's official residence will house a Jewish family for the first time in recent history.
Starmer's wife, Victoria, has kept a relatively low profile throughout her husband's campaign. The former solicitor was born to a Jewish father with Polish ancestry, and her mother converted to the faith.
The couple are now raising their children in the faith, and belong to the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St Johns Wood, in London.
Keir Starmer has regularly spoken about the importance of Judaism to his family, and has shared that Friday night dinners are a tradition. Shabbat is a "rock in the week," he has said.
The new Prime Minister has said he is keen to raise children who "regognise the faith of part of their grandfather’s family," and Shabbat dinners are an important part of that. "Every week there’s a challah, and we say kiddush," Starmer said of his family's traditions.
Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak criticised Starmer for saying that as Prime Minister, he would still take the evening off on Fridays – something which Starmer suggested was insensitive and had antisemitic undertones.
Starmer replied:
"I would have thought to anybody it’s blindingly obvious that a Friday night is quite important in some religions and faiths," he said.Victoria Starmer's faith has come into sharper focus politically since October 7. "Half of [my wife's] family are Jewish, they're either here or in Israel," he said. Speaking about the massacre, the Prime Minister shared that "Thank God" none of his wife's family were directly affected, but that there was "no doubt" they were impacted.
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