LONDON: As Labour won a landslide in the UK election, bringing a crushing end to 14 years of Conservative rule, several of its candidates lost to independent challengers campaigning on a pro-Palestine platform, and nearly a dozen British Pakistani/Kashmiri newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) had their majority margin reduced dangerously.
Across several constituencies with significant Muslim votes over Keir Starmer’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza, Labour’s support has collapsed dealing a big blow to the party that has taken the Muslim vote for granted. However, Labour’s overall landslide is unprecedented.
It was estimated that the British Muslim voters could play a crucial role in around 100 constituencies including a majority of swing seats around the country and a record number of around 300 Muslim prospective parliamentary candidates – most of them Pakistani origin -- were standing in elections on 4 July across the country.
Following Pakistani/Kashmiri origin, Muslim politicians have either successfully defended their seats, lost their seats or won as the first-time candidates, either party affiliated or independent.
Birmingham - Ladywood
Shabana Mahmood (Labour) won the seat with 15,558 votes. Her main opponent was Akhmed Yaqoob on the independent ticket. He stood mainly on the Gaza issue and secured 12,137 votes.
Birmingham — Perry Barr
Independent candidate Barrister Ayoub Khan has beaten Khalid Mahmood (Labour), the senior most British Pakistani parliamentarian who has been winning since 2001, to take the seat from Labour in a huge upset. Ayoub Khan received 13,303 votes whereas Khalid Mahmood received 12,796, losing by a small margin.
Birmingham — Hall Green & Moseley
Tahir Ali has won the seat for Labour with 12,798 votes. He was first elected in 2019 by a whopping majority of more than 28,000. His two main opponents were Barrister Mohammad Hafeez (independent) and Shakeel Afsar (independent) who got 7,142 votes.
Bradford West
Naz Shah has won this seat for Labour with 11,724 votes, winning by just 707 votes. Muhammed Ali Islam, an independent candidate, followed with 11,017 votes.
Bradford East
Imran Hussain (Labour) has retained this seat for Labour with 14,098 votes. In the last elections, Imran Hussain received many votes but this time the runner up is Talat Sajawal (independent) who received 7,909 votes.
Bolton South and Walkden
Yasmin Qureshi (Labour) was first elected in 2010. She has been elected again but with a reduced majority of 15,093. Mohammed Afzal (Conservative) received 4,170 votes against her.
Coventry South
Activist and campaigner Zarah Sultana of Labour has won the seat for Labour with 20,361 votes. She was first elected in 2019 by a slim margin of 401 votes.
London — Tooting
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour) is half-Pakistani and half-Polish. She won this seat for Labour with 29,209 votes. The Tory runner up got 9,722 votes.
Manchester — Rusholme
Afzal Khan (Labour) has been re-elected but with 15,054. In the last general elections in 2019, Khan won with a majority of more than 30,000.
Meriden and Solihull East
Saqib Bhatti (Conservative) has clung on to his seat with 16,792. The Labour candidate Sarah Alan got 12,208.
Sussex Weald
Nusrat Ghani (Conservative) has retained the seat with 16,758. She was first elected in 2015 from the safe Tory seat. The runner up from the Reform UK got 8,920 votes.
Bedford
Mohammad Yasin (Labour) retained this seat for Labour with 18,342 votes. He had won from the same seat again in 2019 but with the thinnest of just 146 votes.
Glasgow South West — Scotland
Dr Zubir Ahmed has won on the Labour ticket from Glasgow South West with 15,552. The runner-up from the Scottish National Party (SNP) received 12,267 votes.
Blackburn
Independent candidate Adnan Hussain unseated Labour’s Kate Hollern in the northwestern ex-industrial town of Blackburn, in a sign that the Labour Party’s position on the Gaza war proved divisive and disastrous amongst many voters. The solicitor managed to secure 10,518 votes, winning by a slim margin of just 132 to Hollern’s 10,386 votes.
The seat in northwestern Blackburn had been represented by Labour for 69 years.
Gillingham and Rainham.
Rehman Chishti lost the Tory seat to Labour’s Naushabah Khan who got 15,562. Chishti came second with 11,590. Both Naushabah Khan and Rehman Chishti are of Pakistani origin.
Birmingham Perry Barr
The biggest election upset in Birmingham took place in Perry Barr — a constituency which has been held by Labour’s Khalid Mahmood since 2001. He was stunned by Ayub Khan who was just a couple of months ago was Liberal Democrats councilor but was standing as an independent candidate in the elections.
Ayoub Khan secured 13,303 votes whereas Khalid Mahmood managed to get 12,796 votes. Hence Ayoub Khan won by a margin of just 507 votes.
Dewsbury and Batley
Independent candidate Iqbal Mohamed, whose key focus areas include a ceasefire and peace agreement in Gaza, beat the Labour candidate Heather Iqbal, who is half-English and half-Pakistani. Iqbal Mohamed received 15,641, Heather Iqbal received 8,707.
Leicester South
Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth was unseated by independent Shockat Adam in Leicester South. Adam’s main policies include “standing for global peace and justice”. Shockat Adam, who is of Indian-Gujarati Muslim origin and has relatives in Pakistan, is the younger brother of Ismael Patel who leads the group called “Friends of Al-Aqsa”.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday congratulated Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on his victory in the election.
In their separate messages, President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan looked forward to working with the new government to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.
