Notably, while Lord Rothschild was President of the Board of Deputies, the Balfour Declaration was addressed to him and eventually led to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

In the mid-19th century, the organisation was headed by Sir Moses Montefiore, the Sephardi lay leader of British Jewry, and Nathan Adler, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.

[7] The Board became more prominent in British society in the early twentieth century due to its support of refugees, notably leading an ultimately failed campaign against the Aliens Act 1905.

Michael Wegier leads a team of professional staff including Director of Public Affairs, Daniel Sugarman (formerly a journalist at The Jewish Chronicle).

[11] However, in the 21st century, the organisation has seen an influx of younger deputies, including two vice-presidents in their early thirties and Phil Rosenberg, who at the age of 38 was elected to succeed van der Zyl as president from 1 June 2024.

In response to the later call, Marie van der Zyl said that "the representative body that speaks for the community must have the legitimacy and accountability that comes from being broad based, democratic and elected."

[17][18] In 2014, at the height of the Israeli military operation in Gaza, the Board issued a joint statement with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Liberal Judaism said that "the Board's credibility as the voice of British Jewry depends wholly on its willingness to listen to, hear from and reflect the values of all sections of the community".

[23] In July 2018, the Board suspended Roslyn Pine, deputy for Finchley United Synagogue, for six years, following comments she made which were described as Islamophobic, and for admitting to holding anti-Arab views.

"[25] In 2019, following Jeremy Corbyn's decision to resign as leader of the Labour Party, the Board asked candidates for the leadership to sign up to ten pledges in order to "end the antisemitism crisis".

The most historically notable and longest-serving past president was the Victorian-era banker Moses Montefiore, who in the 19th century travelled widely to assist Jewish communities in foreign countries, faced by persecution at the time.