While the Labour Party’s position on Gaza has not dented its landslide General Election win, several of its candidates lost to independent challengers campaigning on a pro-Palestine platform.
Sir Keir Starmer was also heckled with shouts of “Free Palestine” both at the polling station in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency and at his election count as he was declared to have won his seat.
Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth was unseated by an independent in Leicester South.
Mr Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general who has made media appearances for the party during Labour’s election campaign, was defeated by independent candidate Shockat Adam.
Mr Adam’s main policies include “standing for global peace and justice”, and he writes on his website: “I will champion Leicester’s values of global peace and justice, which have been neglected by the current government. Our constituency MP refused to vote for a ceasefire to end the bloodshed in Gaza, resulting in the needless deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.”
In Dewsbury and Batley, independent candidate Iqbal Mohamed, whose key focus areas include a ceasefire and peace agreement in Gaza, beat the Labour candidate Heather Iqbal.
In Blackburn, Labour’s Kate Hollern lost to Adnan Hussain, who said in his online statement to voters: “I promise to make your concerns against the injustice being inflicted against the people of Gaza be heard in the places where our so-called representatives failed.”
Labour’s Jess Phillips meanwhile narrowly managed to hold onto her Birmingham Yardley seat, scraping 11,275 votes compared to the 10,582 won by Workers Party candidate Jody McIntyre.
But in Birmingham Perry Barr, Labour’s Khalid Mahmood lost the seat to independent Ayoub Khan by 507 votes.
Birmingham Live previously reported Mr Khan was one of several candidates in the city who wanted to stand in the election “with a strong emphasis on the Gaza situation”.
Labour’s Paul Waugh meanwhile won Rochdale from Workers Party leader George Galloway, just months after he won the seat in a shock by-election dominated by the Gaza war.
Mr Galloway, a former Labour and Respect member, swept to victory in Rochdale in February gaining almost 40% of the vote.
Palestine has been a major theme of Mr Galloway’s political career, throughout which he has voiced ferocious opposition to British and US foreign policies, both in the Middle East and, more recently, in their support for Ukraine.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meanwhile ran as an independent and successfully retained his long-held seat of Islington North in London. He beat his Labour rival by more than 7,000 votes.
He has long been a pro-Palestine voice and his platform included demanding an end to the occupation of Palestinian Territories.
Independent candidate Faiza Shaheen blamed Labour for letting former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith win in Chingford and Woodford Green, saying the vote was split between her and her Labour challenger.
Ms Shaheen was dropped by Labour as its candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green after liking a series of posts on social media platform X that allegedly downplayed antisemitism allegations.
Our vote was a combination of those appalled by how I was treated, those who took issue with having an imposed candidate who didn’t know us, those who were never going to vote Labour after Starmer’s stance on Gaza, and those that have never voted before.Labour split the vote the…
— Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) July 5, 2024
She wrote on X: “Our vote was a combination of those appalled by how I was treated, those who took issue with having an imposed candidate who didn’t know us, those who were never going to vote Labour after Starmer’s stance on Gaza, and those that have never voted before.
“Labour split the vote the moment they deselected me.”
Sir Keir’s position on the Gaza conflict has previously caused unease among some in his party, with the leader facing criticism for not calling for an immediate ceasefire sooner.
In its manifesto, the Labour Party committed to recognising a Palestinian state.
The Labour Party faced setbacks in the local elections in some previously safe areas, particularly those with large Muslim populations.
Backbencher Zarah Sultana accused the party of having been “out of touch” on the issues of a ceasefire and a ban on arms sales to Israel, saying it needs to “seriously recognise and acknowledge” why it lost support in certain quarters.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Labour had taken too long to call for a ceasefire, saying: “On the one hand we’re saying we need to listen to voters, but when it comes to this particular issue there was a hope that this problem would just go away and it hasn’t.
“The party has to seriously recognise and acknowledge the issue, which is not just with British Muslim communities, it’s across communities, but it definitely is a serious issue, as well the Islamophobia that people experience – which also exists within the Labour Party.”
In the Labour safe seat of Tottenham, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy won a majority but saw his vote share plummet by 20 points, with some interpreting the drop as a result of the party’s stance on Gaza.
Independent candidate Nandita Lal said the frontbencher had been put “on notice” by his constituents, adding: “Our community has shown Labour that we will not be taken for granted, that we believe all human lives are equal.
“Lammy has been put on notice. He must now publish the legal advice on whether Israel is breaking international law that he called on the Conservatives to publish, and halt arms sales.”
“It’s been obvious for many months that UK military exports are being used to commit war crimes in Gaza. The UK has a legal duty to prevent and punish the crime of genocide, so if Lammy fails to halt this deadly trade, he could end up in prison.”
