Antisemitism drove former Labour MP to the Lib Dems. Now she hopes to climb an electoral mountain, meeting voters in Finchley and Golders Green

Standing outside his house in a quiet cul-de-sac in Finchley, north London, Ronnie Gordon was on the brink of changing a lifetime’s political allegiance. The former dustman had voted Labour as far back as he could remember, but not this time.

Across the road, Bazilio Fonseca, a postman, had come to a similar conclusion. A couple of miles south in Golders Green, Moshe, an ultra-orthodox Jewish businessman who didn’t want to give his full name, said: “I’ve always voted Labour. It’s quite a big thing to change.”

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All three are backing the Lib Dems in next month’s election, part of a trend which has boosted the chances of a historic victory for Luciana Berger, the party’s candidate following her defection from Labour this year. “Everywhere we go, there is an incredible response and positive feedback,” she said.

Even so, Berger has a mountain to climb in the coming weeks. Finchley and Golders Green is traditionally a two-way marginal with deep wells of Labour and Conservative supporters. The sitting MP is a Tory, Mike Freer – a whip in Boris Johnson’s government – whose majority is 1,657. At the 2017 election, the Lib Dems gained just 6.6% of the votes cast, and the party was more than 21,000 votes behind the winner.

But, as in so many places across the country, political loyalties are fracturing. Brexit is one key factor – 69% of voters in Finchley and Golders Green backed Remain in the 2016 referendum. Another is antisemitism in the Labour party – a visceral issue for the local population, one in five of whom is Jewish, and others repelled by Labour’s failures to root it out.

Berger was the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree until she quit the party in February, citing “institutional antisemitism” and a “culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation”. As a Jewish, female, pro-Remain MP, she has been targeted with abuse online and in person, and was forced to rely on police protection at last year’s Labour party conference.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Luciana Berger talks to postman Bazilio Fonseca. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

Now, she said, she is winning support from both disaffected Labour and Tory supporters. Both Conservative Remainers – a group of voters rarely acknowledged, but with a strong presence here – and Labour Remainers were attracted by the Lib Dems’ clear call to revoke article 50. Berger said: “There are two proof points that lead me to believe I’m going to win. First, looking back at the European election results in June, which indicated that people were prepared to lend votes [to the Lib Dems]. It’s not the same as a general election, but it’s the most recent democratic event we can turn to.”

The second was a poll conducted by Survation in the constituency last month. Based on 400 responses, it put the Tories on 25%, Labour on 21% and – astonishingly – the Lib Dems on 33%.

Berger is well known locally. She grew up in north London, and her robust stance on antisemitism has been hailed by Jewish leaders and the Jewish press. She is canvassing almost every night, and reaching out to constituents through regular “Luciana In Your Lounge” events: small gatherings hosted by voters, who invite friends and neighbours to their homes to meet Berger and ask questions.

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One such meeting was organised by Avi Freeman, a former Labour member who quit six months ago in despair over antisemitism and the party’s oscillations on Brexit. Now a recent recruit to the Lib Dems, he invited 25 people for drinks, nibbles and an hour of Berger’s time. “She got quite a grilling but she handled it well. She really engaged with people. It’s impressive that she put herself out there, and people appreciated it,” he said.

According to Laura Janner-Klausner, the senior rabbi to Reform Judaism who lives in the constituency, “Luciana is a game-changer for this election. She has personal integrity and courage.”

Many Jewish voters would be motivated in their choice at the election by the issue of antisemitism, she added. “But I’m disturbed when people think the only thing that matters to Jews is antisemitism. Issues like poverty, housing, the economy and Brexit are also hugely important.”

Although a Labour member, Janner-Klausner will not be backing the party next month. “I really do believe in the Labour vision for the long term. But in this election, as a Jew and a Remainer, I’ll vote for Luciana.”

I believe in the Labour vision for the long term. But in this election, as a Jew and a Remainer, I'll vote for Luciana Laura Janner-Klausner, Labour party member

Ross Houston, the Labour candidate, said he was focused on winning the seat. But, he added, “there is obviously a slightly different dynamic this time – Brexit, Boris Johnson and the Lib Dems, making this a target. There is a shift, but our core vote is holding up and I can’t see the shift is sufficient to allow the Lib Dems to win.”

Houston, who described himself as a “passionate Remainer”, said the Lib Dems policy to revoke article 50 was reckless and self-serving. He added: “You cannot overturn a national referendum without going back to the people. If you don’t have another public vote, you will enrage and disenfranchise Leave voters. It will not put the issue to bed. Labour is the only party that is offering a people’s vote, and that message will get through.”

Berger risked splitting the pro-Remain vote and thereby allowing Freer, the Conservative candidate, to be re-elected, he said.

Antisemitism “does come up on the doorstep, but not constantly”. A significant number of Jewish members of the party had left over the issue, but many had chosen to stay. “It has caused a lot of hurt and resentment in the Jewish community, and it hasn’t been handled well by the party. We need a fully independent process to deal with claims of antisemitism, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission investigation is an opportunity to get to the bottom of what’s gone wrong. This is something we have to get right – there is no excuse.”

In recent days, at least three Labour candidates have been embroiled in antisemitism claims, and the Jewish Labour Movement has tweeted there are “hundreds of outstanding cases [of antisemitism] yet to be resolved”. A front-page editorial in the Jewish Chronicle appealed to non-Jews to consider antisemitism before choosing who to vote for.

In Finchley and Golders Green, Berger fortified herself with hot chocolate before heading out on a cold, dark night to knock on doors before two back-to-back Luciana In Your Lounge meetings. She called her partner, who is bearing the brunt of caring for the couple’s two children – both under three – to say she hoped to be home by 10pm. Intensive campaigning while still breastfeeding a baby was “an added challenge, but no more than many working parents face”.

Local Lib Dem activists had been reinforced by people “who have previously canvassed for Labour or the Tories, and are now canvassing for us. One said he’d been a member of the Conservative party for 35 years”.

All the rules were being broken, she said: “Politics is no longer being fought on traditional political lines. People are deviating in great numbers from the parties they and their families traditionally voted for. No one anticipated the SNP wiping out Labour in Scotland in 2015. No one predicted the outcome of the 2017 election. Anything is possible.”