# 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 her appointment. 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 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 and 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 the preliminary selection against Alon Or-Bach and Catherine Tuitt. She lost the election to the 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. In 2016 Sackman gave a speech on 80th anniversary of Battle of Cable Street.

### 2024 general election

In the 2024 election, Sackman stood again for the same constituency against Arjun Mittra and won the preliminary. 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 young unemployed. Putting more money into the NHS, a new system where care for the elderly. Get more police back on the streets. She holds that a Labour government would continue to regard British ties with Israel as important. But she said 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, which was held at Royal Air Force Museum. Sackman said the community would "triumph over hate" in a campaign in which Labour's record on tackling anti-semitism came under the spotlight. and that 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. She 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. In her maiden speech on 22 July 2024, Sackman paid tribute to her predecessor Mike Freer, and compared herself to another one of her predecessors, Margaret Thatcher, saying that, unlike Thatcher, she fundamentally believed in the existence and value of society. 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. 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.
On 30 August 2024, Sackman was appointed a King's Counsel.
In response to the 2024 United Kingdom riots in which Red Flare leaked messages from Far-Right wing Telegram groups naming North Finchley as a possible gathering place outside immigration law specialists Sackman called the targeting of this service "disgusting" and on the day of the planned riot chaired a meeting of unity with Jewish and Muslim leaders to deepen community cohesion.
Sackman secured additional funding in the October 2024 United Kingdom budget for the Crown Prosecution Service to support Rape and Serious Sexual Offences teams.
On 2 December 2024, 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.
She has gained prominence for her work in environmental and public law, as well as her political activities within the Labour Party.

## Political positions
### Assisted dying

Sackman published a letter to her constituents in November 2024 that she would support Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. She 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. Quoting Jonathan Romain that the Bill is about shortening death - not shortening life, in her own words "the right to choose is an expression of the liberty which is, in essence, what makes life so precious". Sackman supported Kim Leadbeater's bill introducing assisted suicide into law and served on the committee examining the legislation.

## Personal life

Sackman is a member of New North London Synagogue. She is married to a lawyer; they married in Bevis Marks Synagogue.
Sackman served as a school governor for four years in a state primary in Camden and has also volunteered at Toynbee Hall Free Legal Advice Centre.

## Other roles

As of April 2018, Sackman was a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics Cities Programme, teaching public law and urban politics.