British Muslim Voters’ Face Difficulty Predicament

Ishtiaq Ahmed 

Bradford: The Gaza situation has added a new dimension to the Muslim politics in the current UK national elections to take place on 4th July.

The Muslim voters are rightly  incensed by the  on-going unconditional support by both major political parties for the Israeli atrocities in Gaza but more so with the Labour party that traditionally has been the principal recipient of the Muslim votes. 

Naturally, the Muslim voters feel betrayed by the Labour party leadership. It is this deep sense of anger that led a significant number of Muslim labor councilors to resign from the party in the preceding months and others standing as independents in the recent local elections and winning, for example , in Bradford and neighboring cities.

Moving forward to the current national elections, a number of independents have put themselves forward primarily in seats with Muslim votes that can make a difference between winning between winning and losing and in constituencies with existing Muslim  MPs. 

At the present there are 19 Muslim members of Parliament ( 15 Labour, 4 Conservatives).

The existing Muslim Labour MPs represent parliamentary constituencies with a decisive Muslim vote and are more vulnerable to losing if the Muslim voters decide to switch their votes to independents and other political parties such as lib/ Dem or Green.

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Of course, it is a democratic right of people to put themselves forward for a place in the Parliament. This is a right thing to do in an open democracy. However, the very nature of the current Muslim political awakening does give rise to certain questions:

The seats that are being hotly contested by the independents, for example , in Bradford  already have sitting Muslim MPs. 

Therefore, if the independents do win they would be replacing the existing Muslim MP’s and,  hence, there would be no real progress in terms of overall Muslim representations in the British elected chamber.

Secondly, if independents do succeed in dislodging existing Muslim labor MPs , it remains an open question whether they would be effective in a political setup very much controlled by the established political parties where independent voices are relegated and marginalized.

In this context , Muslim representation and Muslim voice in the Parliament would be weakened and not strengthened. Also, most independent candidates are contesting on a single issue of Gaza in an attempt to take advantage of the Muslim anger regarding the Labour party leadership.

Therefore, the concerns are whether they would be able to provide an effective representation on wider quality of life issues .

There is a fermenting view that although the Gaza is a singularly most important issue for the British Muslim voters, there are other equally important domestic issues which should not be set aside, for example, growing poverty, poor state of education & NHS, increase in the lawlessness and the resulting concerns around community safety.

The current political forecasts suggest the Labour Party, despite suffering losses in Muslim areas, will be returned with a sizeable majority to form the next government. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Labour leadership will feel sufficiently hurt or damaged by the loss of Muslim vote at least in the short term to change its policy on Gaza.

The independent Muslim candidates would be too small in numbers to make a significant impact. Thus, the loss of Muslim party politicians would be a regressive step for Muslim voice and representation in the British parliamentary setup.

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On the other hand, the vote  for the Labour  party would be seen endorsing the Labour Party’s unconditional support for the ongoing Israeli perpetuated genocide in Gaza . Equally, refusing to cast its vote in protest, the Muslim community would be perceived as opting out of the democratic process .

By voting the independent protest candidates, it would be weakening and marginalizing its voice in a party- controlled political setup. 

The issue of Gaza cannot not be abandoned. There is a real sense of frustration and anger that Labour leadership is in cahoot with the Conservative government refusing to take the concerns of British Muslims regarding the atrocities in Gaza seriously. This in the long term could exacerbate the mistrust of British Muslims in the British party political structures. 

However, the British Muslims frustration regarding Gaza is not confined to the British government and its main opposition. It equally extends to the innocuous stance thus far demonstrated by the leadership of many Muslim countries.

It is strongly believed that the Muslim leadership across the world have failed the people of Gaza and are equally party to their genocide , placing their personal and national interests above the lives and the rights of Palestinians. These are very sad states of affairs.

The British Muslim voters face a truly difficult predicament. Should they go with their heart or be more discerning in exercising their democratic choice?

The author is a British citizen of Pakistani origin with a keen interest in Pakistani and international affairs.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.