Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) chair Lord Katz has announced he is stepping down from his role after six years.
Katz, who has been in his position since 2019, was appointed to the House of Lords in January earlier this year and became a government whip in April, something he called a “privilege”.
However, in a letter to JLM members last night he said that, as a member of the government, he could not “give JLM the independent leadership it deserved and which I hope I’ve given the organisation up until now”.
In a statement, the movement thanked Katz for “his service in leading JLM from a period of darkness under the previous Labour leadership to winning power under Keir Starmer, who has always been committed to fighting antisemitism.”
They added that they “look forward to continuing to cheer him on in his new role”.
Katz, who has served in leadership roles within JLM for a decade – having served as the vice chair in 2015 before becoming leader- told the JC he was “leaving the organisation safe in the hands of a group of brilliant young activists".
Speaking on his time in office, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Keir Starmer respectively, Katz said: "Over my stint leading JLM, we've seen the worst of times and the best of times in the Labour Party. I'm hugely sad to have to move on, but tremendously proud of all we achieved. By standing up to antisemitism under Corbyn, we helped save the party and made it fit to govern.”
During an interview with the JC in February, his first after his elevation to the Lords, Katz recalled his time in the leadership of JLM when the group took Labour to Britain’s equalities watchdog – the Equality and Human Rights Council (EHRC) – which later found the party responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.
He emphasised the change in attitudes under Starmer compared to Corbyn: “We went from being in the dark, completely shunned, to being absolutely at the centre of what he wanted to do in terms of the political messaging that the Labour Party was changing under his leadership”.
To Katz, the mark of change was Starmer’s decision to make a personal apology to the Jewish community almost immediately when first elected in April 2020, while the country was enduring the height of the Covid pandemic.
He will be succeeded on an interim basis by Barnet councillor Ella Rose-Jacobs – currently JLM’s vice chair and formerly equalities officer and national director – before the organisation’s Annual General Meeting in November.
Rose-Jacobs said in a post on social media that she was “honoured” to be made chair. “JLM is a special organisation, one with over 100 years of history. I’m proud to be a small part of that”, she added.
