Kemi Badenoch has vowed to ‘stand behind Jewish people’ as she brutally took down a heckler on the elections campaign trail.
The Tory leader delivered a passionate warning about the rising tide of anti-Semitism and the danger of ‘repeating the 1930s’ as she was confronted by a woman in Essex.
The clash started when Ms Badenoch was accused by the woman, not seen on camera, of answering ‘rehearsed questions’ about attacks on the Jewish community and ignoring abuse of Muslims.
The woman, named Chelsey, continued to heckle as Ms Badenoch insisted: ‘It’s very important that the people know what it is that they’re voting for with me, and what they will have with me is someone who is very, very determined to stop this climate of intimidation and hatred towards Jews.’
Ms Badenoch added passionately: ‘I go to Jewish primary schools that have security guards outside – I don’t see that with any other primary school in this country.
‘I go to Jewish supermarkets that have security guards. I go to Jewish businesses that are having their windows smashed in, Gail’s bakery having graffiti sprayed all over it.
‘We need to stop pretending that this is not happening. We do not want the 1930s repeated again.
Kemi Badenoch was confronted by a heckler while out canvassing in Essex yesterday
The heckler, a woman named Chelsey, asked ‘What about the Muslim people? Are they not worth protecting?’
The Conservative Party leader had been out campaigning ahead of the local elections this weekend
The leader had been taking questions from the press before she was interrupted by the heckler (pictured, right)
‘And what we see is people making excuses about this – you will not get excuses from me. We need to protect Jewish people.’
Anti-Semitism has been pushed to the heart of the local elections campaign after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green last Wednesday.
The stabbing was the latest in a spate of anti-Semitic attacks across the country, with the Jewish community pleading for the Government to do more to tackle the rise in hatred and violence.
Keir Starmer hosted a summit with ministers and police in No10 this morning, after he was jeered and booed on a visit to the scene last week.
During the confrontation yesterday at Barleylands Farm Park in Billericay, Essex, the woman interrupted Ms Badenoch again: ‘What about the rise in attacks on the Muslim people? Are they not worth protecting?’
Ms Badenoch responded: ‘The people who have died and who’ve been killed are Jewish people in synagogues. Let’s stop pretending that something else is happening.’
The woman shouted back: ‘But this isn’t about Jewish people,’ to which Ms Badenoch and others quickly interjected: ‘No it is, it very much is. It very much is about Jewish people.’
The Tory leader responded: ‘You can say all that you like, but this is how the 1930s started, with people pretending not to see what was happening in front of them. I am not blind, I am telling people the truth.’
The woman again interrupted, claiming: ‘It [the 1930s] also started with politicians pandering to the Right and doing racist policies.’
Ms Badenoch calmly said: ‘I’m sorry but I disagree with you, you just have to accept that.’
The woman called: ‘Yeah, we know where you stand, pandering to the Right’, to which Ms Badenoch responds: ‘I am the Right, yes, and I’m very proud of being on the Right – I’m not pandering to the far-Right.’
The Party leader finally said as she left: ‘What I am doing is supporting Jewish people from the sort of ignorance that people like you put out there, and I will never be intimidated by it.’
The crowd clapped as Ms Badenoch departed following the tense exchange.
The past few months have seen what is regarded as the most serious surge in anti-Semitic attacks on British Jews in recent years.
They have included Jewish teenagers being threatened with knives at a Tube station, Jewish businesses being targeted with arson attempts, and diners at a kosher restaurant being assaulted.
Two worshippers were killed and several were injured in a terror attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester in October 2025.
The UK’s threat level was lifted from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’ last Thursday for the first time in more than four years, following the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green on Wednesday.
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The stabbings came after a series of attacks in March when ambulances operated by a Jewish volunteer emergency service were set on fire, alongside further reports of attempted arson and attacks on synagogues in north London.
Sir Keir is under mounting pressure to ban pro-Palestinian marches because of anti-Semitic chanting.
A major Gaza march is due to take place in London on May 16 at the same time as one led by far right agitator Tommy Robinson.
Mrs Badenoch warned today that British Jews are ‘being singled out, threatened and harassed in ways that should shame everyone in public life’.
‘If we do not stand up now and stop this rise in antisemitism, then why bother saying ”Never Again” at Holocaust Memorial Day?
‘Because this is how it starts. I am not prepared to play along with the pretence that this is normal, or manageable, or just another example of tension between groups. It really is not. It is targeted hatred and it is getting worse.’
The PM used this morning’s meeting to lay the blame at Iran’s door, warning it and other states that attempts to incite anti-Semitism in Britain ‘will not be tolerated’.
He has pledged an extra £1million for Jewish communities in the wake of attacks in London and Manchester.
