The recently concluded UK parliamentary election has a strong message for the country and its new prime minister. While Keir Starmer-led the Labour Party to a landslide victory with 411 seats in the 650-member parliament, the party suffered severe backlashes in its traditional strongholds.
The country’s Muslim voters, a traditional support base of Labour, are glaringly dissatisfied with the party leadership under Keir Starmer. The party leader’s controversial takes over the ongoing genocide in Gaza created a significant drift between the Labour and its Muslim voters. The rive in the party’s backyard has sent five pro-Palestinian MPs to the House of Commons from the constituencies long represented by Labour members.
Blows from Muslim voters
The defeat of the former Shadow Paymaster General Jonathan Ashworth in Leister South was one of the major setbacks for Labour. Ashworth lost to independent Shockat Adam by 979 votes, while the former’s vote share fell by 35.3% compared to the previous election. Ashworth won the constituency in 2019 with a majority of 22,675 votes, securing 67 per cent of the votes polled. Muslims’ votes were crucial as the community comprises nearly 30 per cent of the constituency’s population. Meanwhile, the newly elected parliamentarian Shockat Adam dedicated his victory to Gaza.
Another pro-Palestinian candidate, Iqbal Mohamed, won the Dewsbury and Batley constituency, defeating Labour’s Heather Iqbal in a favourable margin of 6934 votes. The ‘shocking’ defeat came after Labour’s vote share in the constituency saw a 36.2 per cent shrink.
Independent Adnan Hussain defeated Labour’s incumbent Kate Hollern at Blackburn in a margin of 132 votes. Blackburn’s Labour vote share dropped by 39.3 per cent compared to last time. Hollern won the seat in 2019 with 18,304 votes, earning 64.9 per cent. The previous defeat of a Labour candidate in Blackburn was in the 1935 elections.
Ayoub Khan, a former Liberal Democrat councillor from Aston, won the Birmingham Perry Barr seat. Khan defeated Labour’s six-time parliamentarian Khalid Mahmood with a majority of 507 votes. The Labour Party vote share dropped by 33.9 per cent. Mahmood, Labour’s former Shadow Minister for Defense Procurements had a margin of 15,317 votes with 63.1 percent share in the votes polled last time. Mahmood’s is the first defeat of a Labour candidate since 1970.
Former Labour party chief Jeremy Corbyn retained his Islington North seat this time as an independent candidate. Corbyn was expelled from the party following his decision to contest as an independent candidate. Corbyn was earlier suspended from the party in 2020 over his pro-Palestine takes. The former Leader of Opposition defeated Labour’s Praful Nargung by a margin of 7247 votes. The Labour vote share in the constituency fell by 29.9 per cent. Corbyn bagged a victory of 26,188 votes in 2019, securing a share of 64.3 per cent of votes.
The Labour Party sustained significant blows in constituencies where Muslim voters account for 15-30 per cent. The margin of Labour’s rising star Wes Streeting in Ilford North was reduced to 528 compared to last time’s 5218. The newly appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care witnessed a 20.7 per cent fall in vote share. The Palestinian-origin Leanne Mohamed engaged in a tough fight with Streeting.
In Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali won by 1689 votes compared to her last time margin of 37524. Independent Ajmal Mansoor came second in the constituency.
The serving Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, is one of the trusted deputies of Prime Minister Starmer. Shabana’s majority in the Birmingham Ladywood seat fell from 28582 votes to 3421 this time. The constituency also witnessed a major backlash in the form of a 40.5 per cent collapse in Labour votes. Independent Akhmed Yakoob came second to Birmingham Ladywood securing 33,2 percent votes.
Labour Party switches sides
The Labour Party under Starmer has significantly deviated from its historic position on several key issues like welfare, immigration, settler colonialism, etc. The party’s central aim for the last few years was to pull more votes in marginal seats, eyeing a comfortable majority in the parliament after a nearly two-and-half decade-long stint in opposition.
The move reaped success as the party could gain a monstrous majority of 411 seats in the House of Commons with a mere 33.7 per cent of the popular mandate. Starmer’s pro-genocidal takes brought back Jewish voters who left the Labour camp during Corbyn’s time. At the same time, Muslim voters who owed allegiance to Labour historically have distanced from the party. These major ideological compromises have invited revolts in its backyard. More than a Labour victory, the last UK elections signalled a Conservative collapse. The tactical shift may alienate traditional support bases of Labour from the party in the long run.
