British Jews (often referred to collectively as Anglo-Jewry) are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide. The population has a substantially older profile than that of the general population. Most British Jews adhere to Judaism, although there are an increasing number of secular Jews.

The first recorded Jewish community in Britain was brought to England in 1070 by King William the Conqueror, who believed that their commercial skills and incoming capital would make England more prosperous. This community was expelled in 1290 by King Edward I, and emigrated to countries such as Poland which protected them by law. A small community persisted in hiding despite the expulsion. Jews were not banned from Scotland though in this period as Scotland was an independent nation with different laws than England. In 1656 Oliver Cromwell made it clear that the ban on Jewish settlement would no longer be enforced. At the insistence of Irish leader Daniel O'Connell, in 1846, the British law "De Judaismo", which prescribed a special dress for Jews, was repealed. In 2006, the Jewish community celebrated the 350th anniversary of the resettlement in England. Benjamin Disraeli, a British Prime Minister, was of Jewish origin, however he was baptized an Anglican (lived 21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881); he was also a parliamentarian, conservative politician and literary figure. He served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister.

List of British Jews is a list of prominent Jews from the United Kingdom and its predecessor states.

Although the first Jews may have arrived on the island of Great Britain with the Romans, it was not until the Norman Conquest of William the Conqueror in 1066 that organised Jewish communities first appeared in England. These existed until 1290 when the Jewish population of England was expelled by King Edward I of England.

There was never a corresponding expulsion from Scotland. The eminent scholar David Daiches states in his autobiographical Two Worlds: An Edinburgh Jewish Childhood that there are grounds for saying that Scotland is the only European country with no history of state persecution of Jews.

Jews were re-admitted to England and Wales in 1656 by Oliver Cromwell. Slightly more than 200 years later, in 1858 they were emancipated, that is, accepted as full citizens. In the late 19th century, there was mass Jewish immigration to England from Russia due to Russian domestic policy. In the 1930s, the country accepted many refugees from Nazism. The Jewish population peaked at 450,000, but has since declined due to low birth-rate, intermarriage and emigration, mainly of the younger generation to Israel. According to the 2001 census, the current population is around 295,000, most of whom live in London.

The Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים‎‎ ISO 259-3 Yhudim Israeli pronunciation [jehuˈdim]), also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and an ethnoreligious group, originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation.Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos is equal to those born into it, have been absorbed into the Jewish people throughout the millennia.

In Jewish tradition, Jewish ancestry is traced to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the second millennium BCE. The modern State of Israel defines itself as a Jewish state in its Basic Laws, and Israel's Law of Return states: "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh." Israel is the only country where Jews are a majority of the population. Jews achieved political autonomy twice before in ancient history. The first of these periods lasted from 1350 to 586 BCE, and encompassed the periods of the Judges, the United Monarchy, and the Divided Monarchy of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, ending with the destruction of the First Temple. The second was the period of the Hasmonean Kingdom spanning from 140 to 37 BCE. Since the destruction of the First Temple, most Jews have lived in diaspora. A minority in every country in which they live (except Israel), they have frequently experienced persecution throughout history, resulting in a population that has fluctuated both in numbers and distribution over the centuries.

Richard William Littlejohn (born 1954) is an English author, broadcaster, journalist and satirist. He currently writes a twice-weekly column for the Daily Mail.

Littlejohn was previously a columnist for The Sun and has also written for The Spectator and London's Evening Standard. Littlejohn earned a place in the inaugural Press Gazette Newspaper Hall of Fame as one of the most influential journalists of the past 40 years.

Primarily a newspaper journalist, Littlejohn has also presented numerous radio and TV shows and has authored or co-authored several books. Although many of his newspaper columns are devoted to life and society in England, Littlejohn lives for much of the year in the United States.

Littlejohn was born in Ilford, Essex (now Greater London) in 1954, and his family moved to Peterborough when he was five. His father worked as a policeman and then for British Rail. Littlejohn passed the eleven-plus, obtaining the highest marks in his year. He was offered a public school scholarship which he turned down because the school didn't play football, and subsequently attended Deacons Grammar School.

Vivian Wineman was elected President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews on 17 May 2009 and made President on June 1, after an election which for the first time in the Board’s 250 year history involved four candidates. In addition he is chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council and Vice President of the European Jewish Congress. He has expressed a particular interest in inter-faith work and since 2007 has been a Vice Chair of the Inter Faith Network for the UK. Previously he was joint chair of Peace Now and chair of the New Israel Fund of Great Britain.

Professionally he worked as a commercial lawyer specialising in insolvency work