Starmer’s Sectarian Schism: Pro-Palestinian Independents Enter Parliament After Beating Labour Party

Sectarian politics is officially here to stay in Britain as a schism on the left saw multiple independent candidates best the Labour Party in Thursday’s general election after running on a pro-Palestinian platform.

While the left-wing Labour Party has traditionally been able to count on the overwhelming support of the Muslim community in the UK, this support appears to be fracturing as new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has attempted to move his party away from the antisemitism scandals and accusations of supporting radical Islamists that bedevilled his socialist predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.

According to an analysis from the BBC, Labour saw its vote decline by an average of 11 per cent in constituencies with at least a ten per cent Muslim population.

Such was the scale of the Muslim defections from Labour that shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth lost his seat to a pro-Palestinian independent in Leicester South, wiping away his previous majority of over 22,000 votes and losing by 979 votes to independent Shockat Adam, who declared upon his victory “this is for Gaza”.

Ashworth, who was tipped to be a key cabinet member of the incoming Starmer government before his defeat, had been a vocal supporter of the benefits of multiculturalism, however, it appears that his former constituency’s large Muslim population — around 30 per cent of the electorate — played a key role in his downfall.

In total, Labour lost to five independent candidates who made Gaza a central theme of their campaign including in Islington North, falling to former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was ousted from the party over his failures in handling antisemitism within its ranks during his tenure.

Pro-Palestinian candidates also won seats in Birmingham Perry Barr, Dewsbury and Batley, and Blackburn — all of which were previously Labour strongholds.

One area of success for Labour was the defeat of leftist-populist George Galloway in Rochdale, with the veteran campaigner falling short after entering parliament earlier this year on a pro-Gaza platform in a by-election.

However, the pro-Gaza vote also ate into once healthy majorities for top Labour members, including shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, who barely beat out independent Leanne Mohamad after seeing his majority in Ilford North cut from 9,000 in the last general election to just 528 votes on Thursday.

This was also the case for Jess Phillips, despite having quit Starmer’s frontbench last year in order to vote for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Despite vocally supporting Gaza, Phillips saw her majority cut from 13,141 to just 693 votes over Jody McIntyre of Galloway’s avowedly pro-Hamas Workers Party of Britain.

During her victory speech, Phillips was booed and shouted at by pro-Palestine activists as she complained about her staff facing intimidation tactics during the campaign, which she described as “the worst election I have ever stood in”. Newly minted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wass also heckled with chants of “Free Palestine” during his victory announcement.

The schism within his coalition will likely become a major hurdle for Starmer as he seeks to govern the country as he seeks to appease disparate voting blocs within the Labour umbrella. It has already forced Starmer to backtrack on his initial opposition to calling for a ceasefire and to come out in favour of Palestinian statehood in Labour’s manifesto.

However, the divisions may extend beyond just Gaza, with Muslim parents previously staging protests against the introduction of LGBTQ+ ideology in schools in areas like Birmingham, thus presenting another possible fissure between Labour’s woke base in metropolitan areas and the socially conservative Muslim voter bloc.

With the ascension of Labour, Islamic activists will also likely take centre stage, with groups like Muslim Vote issuing a list of demands to the party prior to the election.

The group warned in May: “This election signals a shift for Muslims – no more political apathy. We will no longer tolerate being taken for granted. We are a powerful, united force of 4 million acting in unison.”

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