Stuart Polak, Baron Polak (born 28 March 1961) is a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, life peer in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and honorary president of the

Conservative Friends of Israel Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening control over business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as ...

Early life

Stuart Polak was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. He attended the Childwall Hebrew Congregation, a synagogue in Liverpool, where he was a

chazan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also ...

, or cantor, during the Jewish High Holidays. He took educational trips to Israel from the age of fifteen.

Career

Polak was a youth officer at the Edgware United Synagogue in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

, northwest London. He served as an officer of the

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established in 17 ...

in the 1980s. Polak joined the

in 1989. He served as its Director for twenty-six years, until August 2015; he now serves as its honorary president. He also serves as chairman of TWC Associates and as a senior consultant to

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc, also known as JLT Group or simply JLT, was a British multinational corporation that had its headquarters in London, England. It provided insurance, reinsurance, employment benefits advice and Brokerage firm, bro ...

. Polak was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) for political service in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

taking the title Baron Polak, of

Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough contains several fi ...

in the County of Hertfordshire on 2 October 2015.

Resignation of Priti Patel

On 3 November 2017, the BBC's Diplomatic correspondent James Landale reported that Polak had accompanied

Priti Patel Dame Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secr ...

, the

Secretary of State for International Development The minister of state for development, formerly the minister of state for development and Africa and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The offic ...

when she had held a series of meetings in Israel in August 2017 without telling the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. They met

Yair Lapid Yair Lapid ( ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician of the centrist Yesh Atid party and a former journalist who has been the Leader of the Opposition (Israel), Leader of the Opposition since January 2023, having previously served in t ...

, the leader of Israel's centrist

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid (, ) is a centrist political party in Israel. It was founded in 2012 by former TV journalist Yair Lapid, the son of the former Shinui party politician and Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid. In 2013 the first election it conte ...

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. 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 Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 United ...

to ensure the pro-Palestinian Duncan did not acquire certain governmental positions. 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.

References

1961 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Jewish English politicians Politicians from Liverpool People from Childwall People educated at King David High School, Liverpool {{UK-politician-stub