Shock poll puts Berger on top in Finchley seat

● Survey shows collapse in Labour support and leaves incumbent Tory MP Mike Freer facing uphill battle to retain the constituency

LUCIANA BERGER has surged ahead in Finchley and Golders Green since announcing her Lib Dem candidacy for the seat, according to a new poll that suggests she has an eight-point lead over Tory MP Mike Freer.

A constituency poll conducted by Survation revealed that Ms Berger would win 33 per cent of the vote if an election was held now — with Mr Freer coming second with 25 per cent.

The survey also suggested Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour — which came within 1,600 votes of clinching the north London seat in the 2017 general election — now trails in third place with just 21 per cent.

If the result was replicated in a forthcoming general election it would represent a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Jo Swinson’s party, which secured only 3,500 votes in the seat in 2017, when Mr Freer beat Labour candidate Jeremy Newmark.

Survation also published figures after discounting those who answered “don’t know” or “yet to make up mind” , which showed the Lib Dems on 41 per cent, the Tories on 29 per cent and Labour on 25 per cent.

The Survation poll, which was conducted on October 2, was the first since Ms Berger was confirmed last month as the Lib Dem candidate.

The survey represents a Lib Dem surge of nearly 25 per cent compared to the last election, while support for the Tory party in the area has dropped dramatically, having previously stood at 47 per cent in 2017. Labour’s support has collapsed following Mr Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism and the neutral stance the party has adopted on Brexit.

In May’s European elections, the Lib Dems won every ward in Finchley and Golders Green and in the 2016 European Union referendum 69 per cent of voters in Barnet supported Remain — the highest percentage of anywhere in the country.

Survation asked a representative sample of 400 people in the Finchley and Golders Green seat how they would vote “if there were a general election tomorrow”. The poll gave the names of both the Tory and Lib Dem candidates.

Labour has yet to name its candidate to fight the seat after Sara Conway pulled out the race last month, citing family reasons. There was speculation last week that Liberal Judaism Rabbi Danny Rich had confirmed his intention to stand for selection as a candidate for Finchley and Golders Green Labour Party.

But he said on Wednesday: “I have been supporting the candidature of Councillor Ross Houston, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, who is a friend and well-known locally.”

Ms Berger was first elected as Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree in 2010 but quit the party in February after antisemitic bullying from Labour members

Berger would win 33 per cent if the election were held now — an eight-point lead over Freer

in the years since Mr Corbyn became Labour leader.

One member of her local party was forced to withdraw a motion tabled at the start of the year that called her a “disruptive Zionist”.

The Metropolitan Police continue to investigate allegations of hate crimes against Ms Berger and two Labour MPs.

She had police protection at last year’s Labour conference in Liverpool.

After leaving Mr Corbyn’s party, she initially joined Change UK, which she later quit.

Ms Berger announced she had joined the Lib Dems last month and was confirmed as the candidate in Finchley and Golders Green on September 26.