UK Election: Labour Party no longer a safe place for people of colour, says ex-Labour candidate

Sabia Akram has spent most of her life campaigning for the UK's opposition Labour Party - but she will not celebrate if it wins the July 4 general election, having quit over leader Keir Starmer’s handling of issues around race and Israel's war on Gaza.

The Labour Party holds a commanding lead in opinion polls after Starmer steered it back to the centre ground. But in doing so, he lost the support of some Black and Asian voters, who traditionally vote Labour, over his support for Israel and for only gradually shifting the party’s position towards supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.

Labour’s treatment of Diane Abbott, the UK’s first Black woman MP, and the blocking of a Muslim candidate have also alienated some voters, according to interviews with voters, political activists and academics. Critics like Akram say Starmer has sold Labour’s “soul in order to seek the keys to No. 10”, the residence of British prime ministers.

Akram, 43, resigned as a Labour councillor in Slough in early June along with six others, citing what she saw as censorship around Gaza which meant she could not criticise Israel. She also cited the treatment of Faiza Shaheen, who was blocked from standing as a Labour candidate in a northeast London seat.

Last month Starmer, speaking after his party won a parliament seat in northern England and control of several councils across England, acknowledged Gaza had had an impact on Labour support in some areas.