April 9, 2024 - 2:00pm
The son of a businessman who donated almost £5 million to Labour has been elected as chair of the party’s youth wing. Jack Lubner, whose father is Autoglass tycoon Gary Lubner, won yesterday’s election with 2,397 votes, more than twice as many as second-placed Alex Charilaou. The results were judged to be a defeat for the party’s Left, with only two candidates on the Socialist Future slate elected.
Last month, 22-year-old Lubner set out his priorities as prospective Young Labour chair, including lobbying the party to expand its housebuilding programme and increasing the prominence of young members in trade unions. Several days earlier, it was reported that his father had personally donated £4.5 million to the Labour Party, having previously pledged to give £5 million.
Lubner Sr told the Financial Times last year that he “intend[s] to give more as we move towards the general election” and that, as the grandson of Jewish refugees who fled Russia for South Africa, he was “horrified” by the alleged antisemitism which took place within the Labour Party during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. He claimed that his son Jack was “abused” and “attacked” by antisemitic peers as a student activist, and that Keir Starmer has since “got rid of […] a real cancer in the party”. Lubner has been vocal in his support for Israel and has donated to several pro-Israeli organisations.
Jack Lubner is currently the southern organiser for the Jewish Labour Movement, and during his time as a Cambridge student served as president of the university’s Jewish Society. Following his election yesterday, Lubner told Jewish News that Labour “is now a safe place where Jews can run and engage without being labelled ‘the Jewish candidate’”. He added that he aims to work “with friends across all different faiths, also fighting Islamophobia and racism” within the party and beyond.
The multiple donations from Lubner Sr form a substantial part of the £13 million Labour received last year from individuals and companies, its highest-ever amount as the party looks to win back City support following Corbyn’s time as leader. Other major donors include former supermarket chairman Lord Sainsbury, who gave a little over £3 million. Lubner insisted to the Financial Times that he was not seeking a peerage, and that he would like to see the House of Lords abolished.
Should Jack Lubner pursue a further career as an elected representative, he may join the likes of current Labour prospective parliamentary candidates Liam Conlon, Hamish Falconer and Markus Campbell-Savours: respectively the sons of Starmer’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray, former Tony Blair minister Lord Falconer, and former Labour MP Lord Campbell-Savours. After his victory yesterday he said, “This result shows that young members want to unite and deliver a Labour government that will change young people’s lives for the better.”
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SubscribeUnbelievable. Almost satirical.
Article by ‘UnHerd staff’? Why the anonymity? Explain.
As it is a mildly interesting article. So interest in politics runs in families and some have Jewish background. Hardly news that.
Business people believing Labour worth supporting. Again not exactly a new phenomenon. At least this donor not a Gold plated racist like a recent big Tory donor.
Parties accepting large donations – I think many of us would prefer a completely different approach to party funding but it’s light years away from the corrupt PAC system in the US that has done so much to drag US political power away from many ordinary people.
UnHerd spending more time on student politics than really the vast majority give a hoot about – again nothing much new in that.
It’s not about student politics; it’s about far more than that, and i think you know it.
Yes certainly could come across as UnHerd showing it’s political bias more openly than usual including some arguably racist tropes. Hence the anonymity? They should explain.
Problem with nepo babies like him and others mentioned in the article is that they espouse policies, like mass immigration, which directly contribute to lack of housing for young people in this country.
The same goes for education:
Comprehensive education is great but not for my children (Dianne Abbott, Tony Blair, Harriet Harman).
Vile, lefty hypocrites, all of them.
They pretend to be against the very class of people they desperately aspire to join, while making things worse for the people they purport to stand up for. This was brilliantly exposed when ex-Labour PM Gordon Brown accidentally revealed his true feelings after his conversation with Gillian Duffy.
I’m not sure why you keep defending these people. They are sheep in wolf’s clothing.
Love the dry tone of this. That quote at the end rounds it off nicely.
The lack of self-awareness is weapons-grade. A trust fund baby whose daddy essentially bought him a job is going to work to “change young people’s lives for the better.” By adopting them?
“whose daddy essentially bought him a job”. Huh? We’re also told that this guy “won yesterday’s election with 2,397 votes, more than twice as many as second-placed Alex Charilaou”. Am I missing something? So did his dad pay off the voters? The article doesn’t say he did. So perhaps some preconception here? Perhaps based on some or other stereotype?
That girl on the righthand side looks very devout.
You shouldn’t be a Labour activist when you’re that age – you should be out raving.
But Labour activists are raving lunatics already.
Heh
Great insight into shallow virtue signalling politics of the privileged. Might appear trivial, but important..