Labour Inflicts Humiliating Defeat on Conservatives

Ishtiaq Ahmed 

London: With most of the results declared, labour is on course to deliver a humiliating defeat to the conservatives.

A record-breaking 44 past and present ministers  including some of the heavyweight stalwarts of the conservative government- Johnny Mercer, Grant Shapps, Gillian Keegan, Lucy Frazer, Penny Mordaunt, Michelle Donelan, Alex Chalk, David TC Davies, Victoria Prentis, Mark Harper and Simon-have lost their seats in an unprecedented night of political bloodbath.

Overall, with two results pending, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has achieved a resounding victory:

LAB: 412 seats, an increase of 211 seats.

Conservatives: 120 seats, a decrease of 250 seats.

Liberal Democrats (LDP): 71 seats, a gain of 63 seats.

SNP: 9 seats, a loss of 38 seats.

Plaid Cymru: 4 seats, including two gains from the Conservatives.

Reform: 4 seats, falling short of the projected 13 seats.

It is apparent that by calling for quick early elections, Rishi Sunak underestimated the depth and the strength of public anger about his party’s inability to deliver on the promises of 2019. This was also not helped by the pantomime of comings and goings of 4 Tory prime ministers  in the space of one parliamentary term.

As Starmar takes charge at the 10 Downing Street with an astounding majority, he is faced with huge challenges ahead. He has inherited a divided and angry nation.

He is only too aware that Labour’s victory is as much owed to his re-profiling of the Labour Party as it is to the voters’ anger and frustration with the Tory government’s failure to deliver on promises.

Although Labour has benefited from people showing frustration with the Conservative government , the party’s overall vote has not improved significantly. This demonstrates that it was more of a anti-conservative vote rather than more pro- labour vote.

Going forward, It  will serve him better to remember  that with a resounding victory also come high public expectations. He will have  to be quick off the  mark to deliver on some of his pledges of fairer society, economic stability and opportunities, NHS, spiralling costs of living, and narrowing the poverty gap.

At the same time, the switch of votes in droves from the Conservatives to the labour should  not be read as permanent.

Starmar and his buoyant team should remember that  it was only four years ago that the Labour party was on the verge of extinction.

Its revival over one term of the conservative government , of course helped the complacency  and the incompetency of the outgoing government,  should help to serve a soulful reminder that political fortunes are very susceptible to a quick turn around.

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On the international front , Starmar’s stance on Gaza has been  nothing short of appeasing the perpetual and unabated genocide of Palestinians by Israel. 

This has been rightly interpreted by the traditionally loyal Muslim supporters as a complete betrayal of the British Muslim sentiments, resulting  in a significant number of Muslim labour councillors resigning from the Labour party and others, hitherto loyal supporters,  going on to stand as independents. 

Starmar’s injudicious pro-Israel stance have  laid the seeds of mistrust , seriously fracturing the longstanding relations between the Labour party and the four million British  Muslims. 

It is feared that Starmar, bolstered by the resounding outcome of the elections may  become more belligerent in his dismissal of British Muslims. If he chooses to  pursue  this line of Islamophobic and racist course , it would add to further discontent and alienation of strong and growing British Muslim diaspora. 

With the Conservatives on 120 seats , LDP on 71, and the improved showing of the Green, Reform, Plaid Cymru Parties and others in mix, the opposition benches have a very diverse look about them.

Even with a resounding majority , Starmar and his team will totally  not have their way.

Labour’s victory is also partly owed to the strong showing of the Reform party led by Nigel Farage  , one of the principal proponents of Brexit and on extreme right of the British political spectrum.

Reform Party’s showing has done a huge damage to the Tory cause by becoming second to labour in many of the Conservative strongholds thus taking away crucial votes to make a  crucial difference to the outcome.

The introduction of Nigel Farage and his Reform into the mix is a worrying development. He is a national-phobic politician of the  far- right camp. It is not without concern that he has managed to get into the parliament on his eighth attempt.

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His Reform party, although, failing to achieve  the predicted thirteen seats, nevertheless, is going to be a major troubling force to Starmar  on the opposition benches with strong public following, particularly, on immigration, border control  and other national issues. He could be a persistent  thorn with strong public presence.

He will add strength to the far right voices in the conservative party. Very worrying development.

Another factor into mix is the return of Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour party, who was thrown out of the party  by Starmar. 

He has returned to the Parliament as an independent. Jeremy still resonates well with the left of the labour party. Many feel that he was unfairly ousted by Starmar and continues to be regarded highly. It would be an uneasy development for Starmar if Jeremy decides to flex his political muscles. 

We are in interesting times for the British nation and the four million British Muslims. These are early days and we will wait and see how the ‘elephant’ will position itself but don’t be surprised if Starmar , a ‘ proud Zionist’ continues to shun Muslims.

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.