Stuart Polak, Baron Polak CBE (born 28 March 1961)[1] is a British Conservative politician, life peer in the House of Lords and honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel.[2]
The Lord Polak | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 2 October 2015 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 March 1961[1] Liverpool, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Peer |
Early life
editStuart Polak was born in Liverpool, England.[3] He attended the Childwall Hebrew Congregation, a synagogue in Liverpool, where he was a chazan, or cantor, during the Jewish High Holidays.[3] He took educational trips to Israel from the age of fifteen.[3]
Career
editPolak was a youth officer at the Edgware United Synagogue in Edgware, northwest London.[3] He served as an officer of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in the 1980s.[3]
Polak joined the Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989.[3] He served as its Director for twenty-six years, until August 2015;[3] he now serves as its honorary president.[3] He also serves as chairman of TWC Associates and as a senior consultant to Jardine Lloyd Thompson.[4]
Polak was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for political service in the 2015 New Year Honours.[5] He was created a life peer taking the title Baron Polak, of Hertsmere in the County of Hertfordshire on 2 October 2015.[6]
Resignation of Priti Patel
editOn 3 November 2017, the BBC's Diplomatic correspondent James Landale reported that Polak had accompanied Priti Patel, the Secretary of State for International Development when she had held a series of meetings in Israel in August 2017 without telling the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They met Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's centrist Yesh Atid party, and visited several organisations where official departmental business was discussed. Those meetings, and others later, led to Patel's resignation from the Cabinet on 8 November 2017.[7] In 2021, former Foreign Minister Sir Alan Duncan published his diaries, in which Polak featured as a frequent opponent of his fellow Conservative Duncan, allegedly operating in tandem with CFI colleague Eric Pickles to ensure the pro-Palestinian Duncan did not acquire certain governmental positions.[8]
In April 2024 Polak was accused of serving political interests of Israel instead of the interests of his own country - the United Kingdom. Specifically, former Conservative minister Alan Duncan said the following about Polak in his interview: "In my view, I think he should be removed from the Lords because he is exercising the interests of another country, not that of the parliament in which he sits". The Conservative Party launched an investigation into Alan Duncan, despite having no formal complaint, but found no wrongdoing and cleared him in July 2024.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b Jim, Pickard; Robert, Wright (8 November 2017). "Priti Patel scandal turns spotlight on Stuart Polak". Financial Times.
- ^ "About CFI". CFI. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Dysch, Marcus (27 August 2015). "Conservative Friends of Israel director Stuart Polak receives peerage". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Who We Are". TWC Associates. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "No. 61092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2014. p. N10.
- ^ "notice 2410914". The London Gazette.
- ^ "Priti Patel quits over Israel meetings row". BBC News. 8 November 2017.
- ^ "DECLASSIFIED UK: Former British minister: 'The Israelis think they control the Foreign Office. And they do!'". 4 June 2021.
- ^ Stacey, Kiran (16 July 2024). "Alan Duncan attacks Tory party after being cleared over antisemitism claims". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
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