Nathan and Hannah's son Lionel was born in London in 1808. As a young man he had served an apprenticeship in his father's and uncles' banking houses. When his father died unexpectedly in 1836, he found himself heir, at the age of 28, to the most successful London bank of the age, and already a figure on the international stage.

Lionel was moved by the same instincts for political reform as his father, but was to follow a different, more activist path. In 1847 he was persuaded to stand as a Liberal candidate for the City of London. His election slate aligned him with standard Whig-Liberal issues: a widening of the franchise (to allow a greater part of the population to vote); reduced taxes; lower duties on tea (to favour the poor); and free trade.

Not surprisingly, he also supported liberty of conscience and civil and religious liberty; and he argued against State involvement in education, on the grounds that it tended to favour the Established Church. His principal concern, however, was to secure the place of Jewish parliamentary emancipation in the broader Liberal agenda of civil and religious liberty.

He came third in the 1847 election, with 6792 votes, enough to earn him one of the City's seats in Parliament. This was only a few hundred votes behind the Liberal Prime Minister, Lord John Russell, a supporter of Jewish emancipation, who was also standing for re-election.

Congratulations began to arrive from Jewish groups throughout Britain and beyond. One London newspaper described it as 'putting England in advance of the rest of the world in the practice of toleration'. But throughout the campaign, people had been aware that, if elected, Lionel would have to face the still-unresolved issue of having to take the oath 'on the true faith of a Christian'.

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