Daniel Finkelstein

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Finkelstein
OBE
Daniel Finkelstein at Ten Years of Shaping the Policy Agenda.jpg
Finkelstein speaking in 2012
Born
Daniel William Finkelstein

(1962-08-30) 30 August 1962 (age 62)
NationalityBritish
Education University College School
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • Politician
Political party
Parents
Relatives

Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, OBE (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist, author, political advisor and politician. [1] He is a former executive editor of The Times, where he remains a weekly political columnist, and has been a regular columnist at The Jewish Chronicle since 2010. [2] [3] Finkelstein was formerly an advisor to Prime Minister John Major and leader of the Conservative Party William Hague. [4] Since 2013 he has sat as a Conservative Peer of the House of Lords.

Contents

He is a former chairman of Policy Exchange who was succeeded by David Frum in 2014. [5] He is Chairman of the centre-right public policy think tank Onward and was a Founding Director of the Social Market Foundation. He is also a Vice President of the Jewish Leadership Council and one of the co-hosts of the weekly podcast How To Win An Election from The Times, presented by Matt Chorley and alongside Peter Mandelson and Polly Mackenzie. [6] [7]

In 2023 he published his first book, a memoir titled Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad, describing the persecution of his Jewish parents in the Second World War, how his mother survived Hitler's death camps and his father endured slave labour and starvation in Stalin's Siberian Gulag.

Background

Finkelstein is Jewish; [1] his mother, Mirjam Finkelstein, was a Holocaust survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, [8] while his father Ludwik Finkelstein OBE was born in Lwów (then in Poland but now in Ukraine), and became Professor of Measurement and Instrumentation at City University London. [9] [10] He is a grandson, via his mother, of Dr Alfred Wiener, the Jewish activist and founder of the Wiener Library. [8] He is the brother of Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein CBE FREng, President of City, University of London and of Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [11]

Finkelstein is a director of Chelsea F.C.. [12]

He was educated at University College School, the London School of Economics (BSc, 1984) and City University London (MSc, 1986). [13]

Political career

SDP

Between 1981 and 1988, Finkelstein was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), becoming Chair of the Young Social Democrats on the defection of his predecessor Keith Toussaint to the Conservative Party during the 1983 general election campaign. [14] Subsequently, he was elected youth representative on its National Committee and selected as a parliamentary candidate for Brent East at the 1987 general election. At around this time, Finkelstein became a close ally and adviser to David Owen, the SDP leader. When the merger with the Liberal Party was proposed, Finkelstein was among the leading opponents and refused to join the merged party, instead following Owen into the 'continuing' SDP. After Owen had announced his resignation from politics in 1992, Finkelstein was the spokesman for a group of young SDP members who joined the Conservatives.

Think tanks

Before working for the Conservative Party, Finkelstein was Director of a think-tank, the Social Market Foundation, for three years. During his period with the SMF, the organisation brought New York police commissioner Bill Bratton to London, for the first time introducing UK politicians to the new strategies being used there.

Finkelstein formerly sat on the Board of Governors of the Gatestone Institute, [15] [16] a far-right think-tank known for publishing anti-Muslim articles. [17] [18] In a series of tweets in 2018, Finkelstein explained that he "didn't initially accept the critics' characterisation of (Gatestone)", that he thought they'd done "valuable" work, but that he eventually withdrew from the position due to 'the volume' of Gatestone publications he disagreed with. He acknowledged that his failure to do so earlier was "worthy of criticism". [19]

In 2018, he became chairman of the new think-tank Onward, whose mission is to renew the centre right for the next generation. [20]

Conservative Party

Between 1995 and 1997, Finkelstein was Director of the Conservative Research Department and in that capacity advised Prime Minister John Major and attended meetings of the Cabinet when it sat in political session. Finkelstein became among the earliest advocates of the 'modernisation' of the Conservative Party, laying out the principles of change in a series of speeches and columns in The Times .

Between 1997 and 2001, he was political adviser to the Leader of the Opposition William Hague and, together with George Osborne, Secretary to the Shadow Cabinet.

In the 2001 election, Finkelstein was the unsuccessful Conservative parliamentary candidate in Harrow West. [21]

Journalism

Finkelstein (right) with Francis Maude, at a Policy Exchange event in 2013 Rt Hon Francis Maude MP and Lord Finkelstein.jpg
Finkelstein (right) with Francis Maude, at a Policy Exchange event in 2013

Between 1990 and 1992, Finkelstein was the editor of Connexion, Britain's first Internet and data communications newspaper. Finkelstein joined The Times in August 2001 as part of the leader writing team and was Comment Editor from March 2004 to June 2008. He became Chief Leader Writer in June 2008. He began The Times blog Comment Central in September 2006. He is also a regular columnist in The Jewish Chronicle . His weekly football statistics column, the Fink Tank, began in 2002 and runs in The Times on Saturdays.

In June 2023, Finkelstein published a memoir, Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival (published as Two Roads Home: Hitler, Stalin, and the Miraculous Survival of My Family in the United States), an account of his mother and father's experiences during World War II. [22] [23] It was shortlisted for the 2024 Orwell Prize for Political Writing. [24]

Honours and awards

Finkelstein was awarded the OBE in the 1997 honours list. [25] In 2011, he was awarded the "PSA 2011 Journalist of the Year Award". [26]

It was announced at the beginning of August 2013 that Finkelstein was to be made a life peer. [27] He was created Baron Finkelstein of Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow on 11 September 2013. [28]

Finkelstein was given an honorary Doctor of Science degree by City University London in 2011. [29]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Holocaust Industry</i> 2000 book by Norman Finkelstein

The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman Finkelstein arguing that the American Jewish establishment exploits the memory of the Nazi Holocaust for political and financial gain and to further Israeli interests. According to Finkelstein, this "Holocaust industry" has corrupted Jewish culture and the authentic memory of the Holocaust.

The Social Market Foundation (SMF) is an independent British political public policy think-tank based in Westminster, London. It is one of the 'Top 12 Think Tanks in Britain' and was named 'UK Think Tank of the Year' by Prospect in 2012. Its purpose is to "advance the education of the public in the economic, social and political sciences" and to "champion ideas that marry a pro-market orientation with concern for social justice". Policy ideas are based on the concept of the social market economy.

Alfred Wiener was a German Jew who dedicated much of his life to documenting antisemitism and racism in Germany and Europe, in addition to uncovering crimes by Germany's Nazi government. He is best remembered as the founder and long-time director of the Wiener Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Perry</span> English writer, scriptwriter, producer, author and actor (1923–2016)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990–present)</span> British political party

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a political party in the United Kingdom, established in 1990. The current party traces its origin to the Social Democratic Party, which was formed in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) and former Cabinet members Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who became known as the Gang of Four. The original SDP merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats, but Owen, two other MPs and a minority of party activists formed a breakaway group also called the Social Democratic Party immediately afterwards. That continuing party dissolved itself in the aftermath of a by-election in Bootle, in which the party's candidate received fewer votes than Screaming Lord Sutch's Official Monster Raving Loony Party. However, some SDP activists met and voted to continue the party in defiance of its National Executive, leading to the creation in 1990 of the current Social Democratic Party under the leadership of the candidate who lost that by-election. The party has been led since 2018 by William Clouston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990)</span> Political party in the United Kingdom (1988–90)

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed in 1988 was a political party in the United Kingdom led by David Owen, which lasted for only two years. A successor party to the original Social Democratic Party (SDP), it was known informally as the 'continuing' SDP.

<i>Hitlers Willing Executioners</i> Book by Daniel Goldhagen

Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust is a 1996 book by American writer Daniel Goldhagen, in which he argues collective guilt, that the vast majority of ordinary Germans were "willing executioners" in the Holocaust because of a unique and virulent "eliminationist antisemitism" in German political culture which had developed in the preceding centuries. Goldhagen argues that eliminationist antisemitism was the cornerstone of German national identity, was unique to Germany, and because of it ordinary German conscripts killed Jews willingly. Goldhagen asserts that this mentality grew out of medieval attitudes rooted in religion and was later secularized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Finkelstein</span> American political scientist (born 1953)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazism</span> Authoritarian ideology, originated in Germany

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Finkelstein</span> British software engineer (born 1959)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gatestone Institute</span> American think tank focused on Islamic radicalism

Gatestone Institute is an American conservative think tank based in New York City, known for publishing articles pertaining to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically with regard to Islamic extremism. It was founded in 2012 by Nina Rosenwald, who serves as its president.John R. Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former National Security Advisor, was its chairman from 2013 until March 2018. Its current chairman is Amir Taheri. The organization has attracted attention for publishing false or inaccurate articles, some of which were shared widely.

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Since the foundation of the Conservative Party in 1834, there have been numerous instances of antisemitism in the party, from both Conservative party leaders and other party figures.

Mirjam Finkelstein was a Holocaust survivor and educator. Born in Berlin, Germany, to Alfred Wiener, a Jewish activist and founder of the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, her family moved to Amsterdam in 1933. There she grew up in the same community as Anne Frank and they knew each other as children.

Onward is a British centre-right think tank producing research on economic and social issues. It has been described as "close to Rishi Sunak's Downing Street". Onward was founded in 2018 by Will Tanner, Martyn Rose, and Neil O'Brien; its advisory board is chaired by Daniel Finkelstein. The founders state that the think tank would operate in the mainstream of conservative politics, and is a reaction to the "lack of energy on the centre right". It is explicitly aligned to the Conservative Party and is not a charity.

<i>Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad</i> 2023 memoir by Daniel Finkelstein

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival is a memoir by Daniel Finkelstein. It was first published in June 2023 in the United Kingdom by William Collins, and as Two Roads Home: Hitler, Stalin, and the Miraculous Survival of My Family by Doubleday in the United States in September 2023. It is an account of his Jewish parents' persecution during the Second World War, how his mother survived Hitler's death camps and his father endured slave labour and starvation in Stalin's Siberian Gulag.

Ludwik Finkelstein OBE FREng was a British engineer and academician known for his significant contributions to the fields of measurement science, instrumentation, and systems engineering. A researcher and educator, Finkelstein's work bridged theoretical advancements and practical applications in engineering.

References

  1. 1 2 Silva, Rohan (4 June 2024). "Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein review – a family in peril". The Observer . London. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "JC Power 100: Numbers 50 – 11", The Jewish Chronicle. London. 10 September 2014. Archived 2014-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Daniel Finkelstein - The Jewish Chronicle". The Jewish Chronicle . Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  4. ↑ "Lord Finkelstein OBE - Onward". Onward . Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  5. ↑ "Policy Exchange appoints David Frum as new chairman" (Press release). Policy Exchange. 19 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.,
  6. ↑ "The Times signs big political names for How To Win An Election podcast". Podcasting Today. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Council & Vice Presidents - The Jewish Leadership Council". Jewish Leadership Council . Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Mirjam Finkelstein, Holocaust educator, friend of Anne Frank and survivor of Bergen-Belsen, dies aged 83". The Jewish Chronicle . 30 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Obituary – Professor Ludwik Finkelstein OBE FREng" (Press release). City University London. 6 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Professor Ludwik Finkelstein". The Times. London. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2016.(subscription required)
  11. ↑ "Tamara Finkelstein". Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  13. ↑ 'FINKELSTEIN', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2013
  14. ↑ The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1987
  15. ↑ Zaheer, Mohammad (18 February 2019). "Opinion: It shouldn't have taken a report from outside the Muslim community for Tory Islamophobia to be taken seriously". The Independent. London.
  16. ↑ "About Gatestone Institute". Gatestone Institute. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  17. ↑ Gjelten, Tom (6 April 2018). "Trump's National Security And State Department Picks Alarm American Muslims". National Public Radio. Washington DC.
  18. ↑ Cerulus, Laurens (17 July 2017). "Germany's anti-fake news lab yields mixed results". Politico.eu.
  19. ↑ @Dannythefink (15 August 2018). "Gatestone Tweet thread". Twitter. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  20. ↑ Eaton, George (18 May 2018). "Onward, the think tank on a mission to remake conservatism". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  21. ↑ Zatman, Alex (2012). "Shoah memories spur writer Daniel to seek truth and courage". Jewish Telegraph. Manchester.
  22. ↑ Freedman, Sam (28 June 2023). "Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein review – escape from tyranny". The Guardian . ISSN   1756-3224 . Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  23. ↑ Cole, Diane (5 October 2023). "His family survived WWII's horrors, and he's alive to tell the tale". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  24. ↑ "Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  25. ↑ "No. 54850". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 August 1997. p. 8912.
  26. ↑ "Political Studies Association Website". Archived from the original on 29 May 2012.
  27. ↑ Blackburn, David (1 August 2013). "New working peers announced". The Spectator . Archived from the original on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  28. ↑ "No. 60627". The London Gazette . 13 September 2013. p. 18117.
  29. ↑ "Lord Finkelstein, OBE". City University London. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
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