1. Sarah Rebecca Sackman is a British barrister and Labour Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green since July 2024, and as the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services since December 2024.
32 Facts About Sarah Sackman
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Sarah Sackman previously served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from July 2024 until December.
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Sarah Sackman has gained prominence for her work in environmental and public law, as well as her political activities within the Labour Party.
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Sarah Rebecca Sackman was born and raised in East Finchley, London, England.
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Sarah Sackman's father is a North London solicitor of Eastern European descent who moved to East London.
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Sarah Sackman was privately educated at South Hampstead High School, where she was head girl.
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Sarah Sackman then studied history at Queens' College, Cambridge, where she graduated with a first-class BA degree in 2006.
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Sarah Sackman 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.
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Sarah Sackman took a scholarship as a judicial clerkship at the Supreme Court of Israel in Jerusalem.
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Sarah Sackman was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in November 2008.
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From October 2008 Sarah Sackman worked as a barrister and housing expert for Francis Taylor Building, a chambers specialising in planning law.
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Sarah Sackman took on human rights training at the British Council in Yangon, Burma in 2013.
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Sarah 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.
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Between September 2021 and 2024 Sarah Sackman worked as a barrister at Matrix Chambers along with Richard Hermer, the current Attorney General for England and Wales.
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In 2022 Sarah Sackman worked on the appellant team in R 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.
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Sarah Sackman lost the election to the Conservative Party incumbent Mike Freer, who won with a majority of 5,662 votes.
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Sarah 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.
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Sarah 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.
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Sarah Sackman 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".
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Sarah Sackman was backed by a number of Labour politicians, including Prime Ministers Gordon Brown, Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
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Sarah Sackman won the election with a majority of 4,581 votes.
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Sarah Sackman had wanted to take the oath on the Hertz Chumash but could not do so as it was not held by the House of Commons Library, and was informed that the 1743 edition of the Hebrew Bible was too delicate to take out the library.
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Sarah Sackman noted that, in recent times, some politicians have chosen to use "North Londoner" as an insult, but she and her constituents wear it as a badge of pride.
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Sarah Sackman promised to "tirelessly call out antisemitism and Islamophobia", and voiced support for the bills in the 2024 King's Speech as a vehicle to restore British public services.
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On 30 August 2024, Sarah Sackman was appointed a King's Counsel.
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On 2 December 2024, Sarah Sackman was appointed as the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services in the Ministry of Justice, after serving 146 days as Solicitor General, in a minor reshuffle following the resignation of Louise Haigh as Secretary of State for Transport and then subsequent vacancy of the role by Heidi Alexander after becoming Transport Secretary.
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Sarah Sackman has gained prominence for her work in environmental and public law, as well as her political activities within the Labour Party.
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Sarah Sackman published a letter to her constituents in November 2024 that she would support Terminally Ill Adults Bill.
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Sarah Sackman said her central reason for supporting the bill was a respect for individual autonomy and she was struck by that in dying we have no control.
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Sarah Sackman supported Kim Leadbeater's bill introducing assisted suicide into law and served on the committee examining the legislation.
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Sarah Sackman is married to a lawyer; they married in Bevis Marks Synagogue.
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Sarah Sackman served as a school governor for four years in a state primary in Camden and has volunteered at Toynbee Hall Free Legal Advice Centre.