Margaret Thatcher’s former constituency turned red as Labour’s Sarah Sackman took Finchley and Golders Green from the Conservatives.
The former PM was first elected as Finchley’s MP in 1959, holding the seat until her retirement from the House of Commons in 1992.
It became the Finchley and Golders Green constituency in 1997 and last night Sackman won with 21,857 votes beating her Tory rival Alex Deane who polled 17,276.
Ms Sackman said the community would “triumph over hate” in a campaign in which Labour’s record on tackling anti-semitism came under the spotlight.
A fifth of the electorate in the constituency are Jewish and outgoing Tory MP Mike Freer declined to run again after coming under a barrage of abuse including death threats following the Israel-Hamas war.
The new MP said she thought that Sir Keir Starmer had made ground in tackling anti-semitism following Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership amid accusations that he failed to rein in anti-semitic behaviour in the party.
In her victory speech at the count held at the RAF museum in Colindale, she said: “I felt hope drain away against a backdrop of populism and of Brexit, the Labour party lost its way in particular, it let down the Jewish community.
“The Labour party needed to change and under Keir Starmer’s leadership it has changed. I’m glad that a Labour party can once again be a beacon of hope to all communities.”
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On wider issues she said nurses should not have to use food banks while woman and girls should feel safe walking the streets at night.
She said she accepted the responsibility to “restore people’s trust in politics.”
She added: “In recent years our democracy has shown to be fragile, politics has become a darker place.”
In an indication that she wanted to offer an olive branch to opponents she praised her predecessor and her rival candidates.
She stressed that regardless of any tensions over events in the Middle East, most Jewish and other voters in the diverse constituency - “across all different groups” - care just as much about the cost of living and NHS waiting lists.
“I think there is this sense that after 14 years in Government, the Conservatives’ time is up” she said.
