Labour loses four seats to pro-Palestinian candidates

The Labour party experienced a setback during the recent elections, losing four seats to independent candidates who support Gaza. Despite this, Keir Starmer's party still had a successful night overall, with other candidates putting up strong competition.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow minister in charge of the Cabinet Office for the party, suffered a significant political setback due to the increased backing for candidates who support Palestine in cities with large Muslim communities.

Ashworth was defeated in the election for the Leicester South seat by independent candidate Shockat Adam, who stated, "This victory is in support of Gaza," after securing a win with a margin of less than 1,000 votes.

In Blackburn, where the former home secretary Jack Straw used to represent, Kate Hollern from the Labour party lost by a narrow margin of 132 votes to the independent candidate Adnan Hussain. In Dewsbury and Batley, Heather Iqbal, who previously advised Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, was defeated by Iqbal Mohamed by a significant margin of nearly 7,000 votes. Additionally, in Birmingham Perry Barr, the former Labour MP Khalid Mahmood was defeated by the independent candidate Ayoub Khan.

In various other constituencies, well-known Labour Members of Parliament faced tough competition from independent candidates. For example, in Ilford, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, barely managed to win over his closest opponent, Leanne Mohamad, by a margin of just 528 votes.

In Birmingham Hodge Hill, Liam Byrne, a previous member of the cabinet, narrowly defeated James Giles, the candidate representing George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain, by a margin of approximately 1,500 votes.

Rushanara Ali won by a slim margin of 1,500 votes in Bethnal Green and Bow, where a significant number of people in the Bangladeshi community were upset by Labour leader Keir Starmer's comments regarding deporting Bangladeshi individuals whose asylum applications were rejected.

Shabana Mahmood, the opposition spokesperson for justice, secured victory in the Birmingham Ladywood constituency, which also has a large number of Muslim residents. She outperformed independent candidate Akhmed Yakoob by approximately 3,500 votes.

However, not all pro-Palestinian candidates saw success in the recent elections. George Galloway, who had previously won the Rochdale seat in a byelection, lost to Labour candidate Paul Waugh. Galloway's victory earlier in the year came after controversy surrounding comments made by Labour candidate Azhar Ali regarding Israel.

Labour party representatives had repeatedly mentioned during the campaign that a lot of their candidates were facing competition from pro-Palestinian candidates all over the UK. Party planners had anticipated that the majority of voters who had turned away from them due to this issue during the local elections would come back for the general election, but it seems they had miscalculated how many actually would.

Starmer received a lot of negative feedback from activists for his remarks during the beginning of the conflict, stating that Israel had the authority to control access to power and water for civilians in Gaza. This frustration grew when the party decided not to support a motion from the Scottish National Party urging for an immediate ceasefire in the area, despite later approving their own motion with similar objectives.

In certain areas, the competition turned hostile, as Labour campaigners reported feeling intimidated by their rivals.

During Ali's campaign, Labour volunteers were trailed as they distributed pamphlets along the sidewalk, and in Birmingham, party backers had to contact authorities two times during the last weekend of canvassing.