Election shows UK Labour can no longer take the Muslim vote for granted

"Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza."

That was the opening line of George Galloway’s acceptance speech, after he was voted in as a member of the United Kingdom parliament in a special election last week.

Galloway was elected by voters in the northern British town of Rochdale on a largely pro-Palestinian platform. The main opposition Labour party had held the seat, but withdrew its support of its candidate over comments he made about Israel.

Galloway's victory speech encapsulated the sentiment of millions of people across the country.

Amid jubilant cheers from his supporters, the only Member of Parliament (MP) for the Workers’ Party - founded by Galloway himself in 2019 – continued to direct his scathing words at Starmer, the head of the Labour Party:

"You have paid and will pay a high price for the role you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in (Gaza)."

The message reflected the strength of feeling about the war among Rochdale’s Muslims, who make up around 30 percent of the town's population. It also articulated the main reason why so many voters who went to the polls elected Galloway as their MP.

With 12,335 votes and a majority of 5,697, Galloway received more votes than both of the UK's main political parties put together. The special election — known as a by-election — was held following the recent death of Rochdale's previous MP, Tony Lloyd.

Around 66 percent of the UK’s population supports a ceasefire, including people from all racial and religious backgrounds, according to the research group YouGov. But Muslim representatives say the Rochdale result reflects how out of touch Britain’s political establishment is with their communities’ specific values.

Abubakr Nanabawa is the spokesperson for The Muslim Vote, a coalition of Muslim organisations that aim to mobilise the community politically and help select and endorse candidates that best represent it.

Speaking to TRT World, he pointed to a growing sense of alienation among British Muslims that has come to a head with Israel’s attack on Gaza.

"The British government has provided cover for what the International Court of Justice has said is a potential genocide. I think for people that is a red line. Perhaps before, Muslims were able to overlook the shortcomings of the Labour Party because it was seen to provide an alternative to the current government, but now it seems the party has crossed a line from which there is no return."

Nanabawa was referring to the fact that the Labour leader Keir Starmer refused to call for a ceasefire until very recently. Previously, Starmer had told a British radio station that he believed Israel was justified in cutting off water and electricity to Gaza.

He later advised Labour MPs to abstain from a vote in parliament calling for a ceasefire. His stance led to several MPs resigning from the Front Bench of the House of Commons, as well as dozens of Labour councillors across the country abandoning the party. It also resulted in droves of Muslims renouncing their support.

Indeed, a recent poll carried out by the Labour Muslim Network found that 70 percent of Muslims would consider Britain’s complicity in Gaza to be a key factor in their voting choices.

But while political analyst Taj Ali agreed that Israel’s onslaught has been a defining moment for the five-million strong community, he also pointed to a broader problem British Muslims have had with the Labour Party for some time.

Speaking to TRT World, Ali said, "Over the past few years, the level of support for the party among British Muslims has waned."

Ali, who is the co-editor of the British trade union magazine Tribune, added, "The party has traditionally been the home of many British Muslims, but we've seen discontent, whether it was over the Iraq war, or the authoritarian legislation introduced by New Labour and, more recently, events in Gaza. What we saw in Rochdale is reflective of how many Muslims across the country are feeling right now."

Starmer's response to the Rochdale result was to condemn Galloway as a "damaging force in our communities and public life." He also claimed that Galloway only won because Labour had withdrawn support for its candidate, Azhar Ali, over remarks alleged to be anti-Semitic.

Galloway’s win comes at a time when the ruling Conservative party is widely accused of trying to shut down pro-Palestinian protests that have been taking place in London and across the country since October 7.

In response to the Rochdale election outcome, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — himself unelected — delivered a speech last week claiming that democracy was being targeted by "extremists" and that the protests had "descended into intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence," but provided no evidence for his claims. He went on to describe Galloway’s win as "beyond alarming."

Against this backdrop of state-sanctioned hostility towards Muslims, and with a 365 percent rise in anti-Muslim attacks since October, activists told TRT World they are now seeking to follow Rochdale’s example and unseat Labour MPs in dozens of constituencies across the country in the general election, likely to take place later this year.

One such area is Ilford North in east London. Campaigners there hope to mobilise its 75,000 residents — a third of which are Muslim — to remove the current MP Wes Streeting in favour of Leanne Mohamad, a British Lebanese independent candidate.

Speaking to TRT World, Vaseem Ahmed, one of the founders of the Redbridge Community Action Group, which was set up for the task, said his aim is to bring about change at a local level.

"We're focused on what we should do here in Ilford North so that we can set up a strong foundation for the future. Our short-term goal is to unseat Streeting, regardless of whether Labour wins the overall election. Hopefully, that will send a strong message to the Labour Party to not take our votes for granted."

While polls suggest Labour will win the general election with a comfortable majority, activists believe the Muslim vote can still make a difference.

"If you end up with even 10, 25 or 20 independents, that's just the start," Ahmed said.

"Then, over the next few election cycles that can increase and can make a difference and, who knows, if there’s ever a hung parliament, independents may even get to have a bigger say on policy."

Ali agreed: "The Muslim vote does matter. People forget that you can still affect the political debate without electoral representation. We saw that with the UK Independence Party. UKIP got 12.6 percent of the vote in 2015, but they had very little parliamentary representation. But because they were putting pressure on the Conservatives, the Conservatives shifted towards a more critical line on the European Union. That is the power that challenges from left and right can have on our political discourse and debate."

Concerns about a lack of representation in government are also growing further afield. In Europe, mass protests in support of a ceasefire suggest that Muslim communities there, too, are experiencing a similar sense of alienation and marginalisation.

Ali said this could lead to many centrist parties in Europe losing substantial seats, especially in countries where there is proportional representation and every vote counts.

"What the centre-left fails to understand is that just because British Muslims or French Muslims or other European Muslims don't have anywhere to turn to, it does not mean they won't make an impact. We know that centre-left parties have often relied on immigrant communities to secure votes, so we know that across Europe there could be a lower turnout. You can understand, therefore, how the concerns of Muslims should be taken more seriously by European political parties."

To Nanabawa, Europe is at a "defining moment."

"Certain governments may have undermined attempts to call for justice for people who are under daily bombardment by a superior military. So, I imagine this will have an impact on the way people vote right across Europe."

For now, in the UK, Galloway has vowed to represent Muslim voices when few others seem willing to do so. As they find themselves shunned from mainstream political platforms, the only recourse left for Britain’s Muslims appears to be independent representation.

For them, it’s a price they’re willing to pay for taking a stand against the unspeakable horrors that continue to be inflicted on Palestinians.