Scandal-hit, Bible-burning rabbi limps in 6th in UK mayoral bid
Rabbi Shneur Odze, candidate of the right-wing UKIP, musters less than 2% of the vote in Manchester race won by Labour
A scandal-hit, Bible-burning, ultra-Orthodox British rabbi finished in a poor sixth place in his bid to become the mayor of Manchester.
Rabbi Shneur Odze, candidate of the right-wing Eurosceptic UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) party, mustered 10,583 votes — just 1.87% of the votes cast.
His performance typified a dismal set of results in the nationwide local elections for UKIP, which lost almost all of its council seats and was heading for about 3% of total votes, compared to 22% when the same elections were held in 2013.
Britain holds general elections next month, and this week’s vote showed Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party set to make major gains, and Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition Labour heading for significant losses, if the results are replicated on June 8.
The Manchester mayoral race was a rare success for Labour, with the election won by its former health secretary Andy Burnham, who resigned from parliament to run.
Burnham won 63 percent, taking in almost 360,000 votes. Next came Conservative Sean Anstee, who won about 129,000 votes, followed by Liberal Democrat Jane Brophy, the Green party’s Will Patterson, English Democrat Stephen Morris, and Odze.
The rabbi had made a series of troubling headlines in the run-up to the vote — for refusing to shake hands with female rivals, for burning a Bible, which he said came from a missionary group, and finally for an alleged sex scandal.
Optimistic till the end, he told The Times of Israel last month that people in areas of Greater Manchester who were not used to seeing Orthodox Jews were “intrigued” by him.
“[I have] a lot of support from people of other faiths and no faiths. I want to bring people in from the shadows,” he said. “What Greater Manchester does not need is another Westminster insider. What I bring is a breath of fresh air.”
Jenny Frazer contributed to this report.
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