Sarah Sackman

Sarah Rebecca Sackman is a British barrister and Labour Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley and Golders Green since July 2024, and as the
Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services since December 2024. She previously served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from July 2024 until December. She has gained prominence for her work in environmental and public law, as well as her political activities within the Labour Party.

Early life and education

Sarah Rebecca Sackman was born and raised in East Finchley, London, England. Her father is a North London solicitor of Eastern European Jewish descent who moved to East London. Her mother's family moved from Tarragona in Spain, Italy, and Morocco to Gibraltar, where they own a 150-year old perfumery. Sarah's maternal grandfather was Gibraltar's former Minister for Economic Development and former independent MP in the Gibraltar Legislative Council Solomon Seruya.

Sackman was privately educated at South Hampstead High School, where she was head girl. She then studied history at Queens' College, Cambridge, where she graduated with a first-class BA degree in 2006.

She went on to obtain a Graduate Diploma in Law with distinction at City, University of London and an LLM from Harvard Law School specialising in cities, housing, local government, and poverty law.

Legal career (2008–2024)

Sackman took a scholarship as a judicial clerkship at the Supreme Court of Israel in Jerusalem. She was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in November 2008. From October 2008 Sackman worked as a barrister and housing expert for Francis Taylor Building, a chambers specialising in planning law. Sackman took on human rights training at the British Council in Yangon, Burma in 2013.

In 2017 The Markaz El Tathgheef el-Eslami group (MTE) bought Golders Green Hippodrome with the intention of converting it into an Islamic centre. There were a number of objections from residents who cited concerns such as parking and congestion but some opposed the move on the grounds of a Muslim centre being located in an area (Golders Green) with a large Jewish population. Sackman, acting for MTE, said it was hard to see how it had "not been treated differently to other religious groups who have previously used the building." In 2021 Hillsong Church purchased the venue.

Sackman contributed a chapter to ''Community-Led Generation - A Toolkit for Residents and Planners'' by Pablo Sendra and Daniel Fitzpatrick on using the law to challenge redevelopment through courts. The book was published in 2020.

Between September 2021 and 2024 Sackman worked as a barrister at Matrix Chambers along with Richard Hermer, the current Attorney General for England and Wales. There she worked on a number of cases mainly focused on public and environmental law.

In 2022 Sackman worked on the appellant team in R (on the application of Coughlan) v Minister for the Cabinet Office against the government trial of voter ID arguing that it was unlawful to be made under Representation of the People Act 2000. The appeal was dismissed on grounds that section 10 enabled pilot schemes under the condition that the government encouraged voting which it did where reduction in voter fraud increased voter confidence.

Early political career

2015 general election

In the 2015 general election, Sackman stood for the Labour Party in Finchley and Golders Green; she won selection ahead of Alon Or-Bach and Catherine Tuitt. Sackman lost the election to the Conservative Party incumbent Mike Freer, who won with a majority of 5,662 votes. Sackman was vice-chair of the Jewish Labour Movement between 2015 and 2024, and in 2016 she gave a speech on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street.

2024 general election

In the 2024 election, Sackman stood again for the Labour Party in Finchley and Golders Green, winning selection against Arjun Mittra. Sackman stood on supporting economic growth, particularly in small businesses, cutting business rates for small businesses and freezing energy prices; investing in skills and giving grants to provide work for unemployed young people; investing more money into the NHS, including a new system for caring for the elderly; and getting more police back on the streets. She held that a Labour government would continue to regard British ties with Israel as important, but that it must continue to advocate for a negotiated peace with the Palestinians, and for "democratic values".

Sackman was backed by a number of Labour politicians, including Prime Ministers Gordon Brown, Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Sackman won the election with a majority of 4,581 votes. In her victory speech held at Royal Air Force Museum, Sackman said the community would "triumph over hate" after Labour's record on tackling anti-Semitism came under the spotlight. She declared she would help to build: "A society where nurses aren't forced to visit foodbanks; where women and girls aren't afraid to walk home at night; where we act when we see the planet on fire, and where we welcome rather than demonise those, like my ancestors, who come to this country fleeing persecution."

Member of Parliament (2024–present)

''Inside Housing'' listed Sackman as one of eight newly elected MPs who would be advocates for the cause of social housing in the new Labour government due to her experience with planning and environmental law and her work with the charity Shelter.

On 9 July 2024, she was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales. Sackman took her Oath on the Hebrew Bible

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