Can the Labour Party regain the trust of the UK's Muslim voters?

The Muslim vote doesn’t exist. It never has. Muslims, like any other group of people, are diverse in every way, shape and form – and this is no less true than politically.

Yes, Labour’s Mohammad Sarwar was Britain’s first Muslim MP, but the Conservatives had the first Muslim cabinet minister in Baroness Warsi, and the SNP’s Humza Yousaf was the first Muslim leader of a Western democracy.

There is no denying the fact that huge swathes of British Muslims vote Labour. They always have done so, and they did so in this General Election too, with Labour remaining the largest single party in the most Muslim parts of Britain, retaining 17 out of 21 constituencies and electing a record 19 Muslim MPs.

The bond between Muslim communities and the Labour Party is strong because the principles of social justice and equality are intrinsic to both the Labour Party and Islam.

But that is not to say that this bond isn’t unbreakable.

Labour's response to Israel's assault on Gaza and delay in backing a ceasefire shook this relationship. Unfortunately, during the election cycle, we saw third parties looking to capitalise on this and break the bond. 

We have seen these rogue actors in Muslim communities, declaring Muslims don’t belong in and shouldn’t vote for Labour, and we have also seen them within the Labour Party with anonymous briefings to the press referring to losing Muslim voters as “shaking off the fleas”.  

The Muslim Vote, a somewhat anonymous group, did valuable work in encouraging British Muslims to vote. However, its campaign has also had disappointing and – at times – deeply dangerous consequences.

Not only has the campaign used the atrocities in Gaza to cause disunity in Muslim communities, but it has also inadvertently propagated far-right tropes about Muslims by implying that Muslims vote in a block, that foreign policy is the only concern of British Muslims, and that, bizarrely, we are an overly influential demographic in British politics.

The Muslim Vote told Muslims who to vote for based on who they deemed to be ‘pro-Palestinian’ enough, hampering its own legitimacy by failing to be guided by the very communities they claim to speak for.

A divided Muslim vote

Instead of examining parliamentary records and public statements of all candidates to see who had campaigned on Palestinian rights, it was decreed that anyone who was standing for Labour was simply not people for Muslims to vote for, even if said candidates had resigned from their frontbench positions to support a ceasefire in Gaza.

On the issue of Palestine, regrettably, The Muslim Vote had decided that there was no difference between Labour and the Tories.

Whilst the positions of Labour and the Tories were disappointingly similar in October, in February it was Labour’s motion in support of a ceasefire in Gaza which passed in the House of Commons.

This motion, also called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief in Gaza, an end to Israeli settlement expansion and violence, compliance with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures and the recognition of the state of Palestine.

To this day, the Tories do not support these principles.

Unfortunately, The Muslim Vote’s campaign appeared not to be based on the principle of standing up for Palestinians but on punishing Labour.

To tackle political apathy and disenfranchisement within Muslim communities, particularly around the issue of Palestine, it could have engaged with local Muslim communities and leaders, sought to understand the context in different constituencies with large Muslim populations, and considered what work candidates had actually done to advocate for justice for Palestinians.

Instead, it chose to collectively punish anyone with a red or blue rosette.

Despite claiming otherwise, The Muslim Vote failed in its only aim. Most Labour MPs who have been stalwart campaigners on Palestine were re-elected, despite not being endorsed by The Muslim Vote, and Labour still won a historic landslide – including in Scotland relegating the SNP to just nine MPs – and will be in government for at least the next five years.

Since forming a government, Labour has clearly shown it is listening to the concerns of Muslims and non-Muslims demanding more decisive and compassionate action from their government on Palestine.

Within the first week in government, Labour announced its support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and stressed this, and the need for more aid to get into Gaza unimpeded, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the last three weeks, not only has the Foreign Secretary prioritised visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but he also announced the restarting of £21 million in aid to UNRWA that the Tories suspended, reaffirmed the new Government’s commitment to international law, and started a comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.

In the King’s Speech two weeks ago, the Labour Government made history by including in its legislative agenda support for a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel – the first time Palestine has ever been mentioned in a King’s Speech.

Labour has its work cut out for it if it wants to win back Muslim voters at the next election.

For Muslim communities, there is no doubt that Labour in government will be infinitely better than a right-wing, deeply Islamophobic Conservative one.

Our prosperity and progress have been seriously hampered by being frozen out of civic life by successive Conservative governments, and if The Muslim Vote had been successful in its aim, Muslims may have been kept at arm’s length and not brought around the table for another five years.

Instead, we can finally work constructively with a Labour government that is listening and committed to building strong foundations for positive engagement with Muslim communities.

We cannot let small factions within Muslim communities hijack the conversation again, whichever quarter they come from.

Afzal Khan is the MP for Manchester Rusholme, and previously represented Manchester Gorton from 2017. He served as Shadow Minister for Immigration, Shadow Minister for Legal Aid, and most recently Shadow Minister for Exports, before resigning to vote for a ceasefire in Gaza. Previously, Afzal has served as Manchester Lord Mayor and a Member of European Parliament. He's awarded a CBE for his work on community cohesion, inter-faith, and local government.

Follow Afzal on X: @AfzalKhanMCR

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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.