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Shadow cabinet minister Jonathan Ashworth was defeated overnight as Labour lost or struggled to hold multiple seats due to protest votes over the party’s stance on the conflict in Gaza.
Labour lost five seats to pro-Palestinian independent candidates during the course of the night, all in areas with significant Muslim populations.
Ashworth, who had been Labour’s shadow paymaster general and was tipped for a more senior post, lost his Leicester South seat to an independent running on a pro-Palestine ticket by just 979 votes. The seat has a 35 per cent Muslim population.
In Leicester East, the progressive vote was split between Labour and a pro-Palestinian Liberal Democrat candidate, allowing Tory candidate Shivani Raja to triumph. The seat had not been held by the Conservatives since 1983.
Labour also fell short of securing Dewsbury and Batley in West Yorkshire and Blackburn in Lancashire, both of which have roughly 45 per cent Muslim populations.
Ayoub Khan, an independent candidate, won in Birmingham Perry Barr from Labour with a majority slightly over 500 votes.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting and prominent Labour backbencher Jess Phillips both won their seats by a hair’s breadth against pro-Palestinian opponents. Streeting won a majority of just 528, while Phillips won a majority of 693.
Phillips told the BBC that Gaza was a “massive issue” in the constituency but said she was also caught in a “pincer” because of the increased vote for Reform UK.
In Chingford and Woodford Green, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith held on to his seat after the leftwing vote was split between Labour and the independent candidate and outspoken pro-Palestine activist Faiza Shaheen, who was ditched as a candidate by Starmer shortly after the election was called.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s victory in Islington North means there are now six pro-Palestine independent MPs, poised to breathe down Labour’s neck on the conflict in Gaza.
Shockat Adam, the independent who stood against Ashworth, said his win was “an indication to those who have been in power for so long that you cannot forget the people that you serve”.
“This is a humble gesture,” he said before waving a scarf from a member of the audience and saying: “This is for the people of Gaza.”
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During the six-week election campaign, Labour deployed activists to shore up its vote in 24 seats with sizeable Muslim populations as it sought to stave off challenges from pro-Palestine candidates.
Labour was aware of the risk, instructing activists in some seats with more than 10 per cent Muslim populations to campaign locally instead of travelling to target seats.
Starmer had been criticised by many traditional Labour supporters for only gradually shifting the party’s position towards supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. His reluctance to change stance led to 10 frontbenchers quitting in November, including Phillips.
After the party faced significant council losses in Muslim areas in the local elections in May, Starmer said explicitly he was committed to recognising a Palestinian state as part of a peace process — though many feel he should have gone further by withdrawing support for Israel and backing an end to arms sales.
It is vanishingly rare for independent candidates to win in general elections under the UK’s voting system. The postwar record for independents winning seats was set in 1945, when eight seats were secured.
No independents won in 2019 and only one did in 2015.
Pro-Palestine candidates came second to Labour in at least seven seats, including Slough, Oldham West, Rochdale, Burnley, Walsall and Bloxwich, and Birmingham Hodge Hill.
“In areas where Muslim voters were presented with strong alternative candidates, the community rallied behind them and sent a clear message to the Labour party that their votes can no longer be taken for granted,” said Abubakr Nanabawa, co-ordinator for The Muslim Vote, a campaign group.