LONDON: The two million eligible British Muslims voters in the United Kingdom have the ability to swing the election result.
According to a U.K. Research released by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the country’s leading British Muslim representative body, voters from the Muslim community could swing 31 marginal seats.
But this depends on Muslims registering to vote and therefore, from Finsbury Park Mosque in London, Birmingham Central Mosque, to Masjid al-Hikmah in Aberdeen, Scotland, mosques across the UK, all mosques participated in the nationwide campaign of ‘National Muslim Voter Registration Day’ on Friday 22nd November.
There are 31 marginal seats where the Muslim electorate outnumbers. The full list of constituencies can be found here.
MCB Secretary-General, Harun Khan, said: “As active participants in our society, Muslims – in all their diversity – can play a significant role in what may become a close election, and we hope that the parties listen and reach out to Muslim communities across the country to engage on issues of concern.”
Zara Mohamed, Assistant Secretary-General at the MCB, added: “It’s important that we all – young and old – realise our potential to make change through political participation. Our votes matter. Be it the mosque, community organisation, student society or women’s group, each of us can make a difference. This is as true in Ealing as in Edinburgh – we all have a responsibility to encourage as many people to register to vote.”
Mohammed Kozbar, Chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque, which was attacked by a far-right terrorist in 2017, said: “At my mosque we know the price we all pay when certain communities are excluded from politics. It is high time Muslims make their voices heard – especially as many Muslim communities are in seats where they can be the difference between one candidate or another ending up in Parliament.”
Nasir Mahmood, Deputy Chair of Birmingham Central Mosque, said: “It is the civic duty of every citizen – Muslim or not – to exercise their democratic right to vote. As community leaders, we must do our utmost to help our members participate as fully in the election as they wish to. This initiative is key to engaging our communities and helping Muslims make their voices heard this election.”