The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Pro-Gaza MPs become sixth largest ‘party’
Wins for five independents championing Palestinian cause create group larger than Greens or Plaid Cymru
PRO-GAZA MPs have become the effective joint-sixth largest party after five independent candidates unseated Labour rivals on Thursday night.
One candidate, Shockat Adam, said “This is for the people of Gaza!” after being elected the MP for Leicester South, while holding up a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.
Another independent, Ayoub Khan who won in Birmingham Perry Barr, had previously quit the Lib Dems after appearing to question the Oct 7 massacre and refusing to go on an anti-Semitism training course.
They are among four newly elected MPs, all of whom championed the Palestinian cause throughout the election.
They will be joined in the Commons by Jeremy Corbyn, a long-term supporter of the Palestinian cause, who was re-elected as the MP for Islington North as an independent after getting expelled from the Labour Party.
As a group they outrank the Greens and Plaid Cymru, who both have four MPs. They are level with the DUP and Reform who won five MPs.
It puts them in joint-sixth place, by number of seats, after Labour on 411, Conservatives on 121, Lib Dems on 71, the SNP on 9 and Sinn Fein on 8.
Yesterday the Muslim Vote organisation, which encourages British Muslims to vote for specific candidates it has approved, claimed victory.
The organisation lauded the five “brilliant” independents, and also boasted that its “unprecedented” influence on the election results had also led to “slashed” majorities for several other Labour figures. Wes Streeting, the new
Health Secretary, held onto his seat by just 528 votes after a challenge from another independent who is the granddaughter of Palestinian refugees.
The Muslim Vote campaign group was established in response to the war in Gaza and the Labour Party’s decision not to oppose Israel’s military response to Oct 7 from the start.
It said its aim was to ensure Britain’s 3.9 million Muslims turn out on polling day and vote for their approved candidates, putting pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to adopt The Muslim Vote’s 18 demands. These include immediately recognising Palestine as a state, cutting military ties with Israel and investing seven per cent of public pensions in “ethical and Islamic funds”.
has previously revealed that the Muslim Vote organisation is supported by two groups set to be investigated over extremism fears.
Among the list of its two dozen backers are the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend).
Michael Gove, the former Communities Secretary, named the two organisations earlier this year as among those to be assessed as to whether they meet the new definition of extremism.
Mr Gove said in Parliament that MAB, which he described as the “British affiliate” of the Muslim Brotherhood, was a group that gave “rise to concern for their Islamist orientation and views”. Labour has also cut ties with Mend, saying in April that the party had a policy “not to engage” with the organisation.
A joint statement by Mend and MAB, along with other Muslim groups, responding to Mr Gove, said his definition of extremism “politicises a concept that should be above party politics, attacks free speech, delegitimises lawful dissent, stifles public debate, avoids democratic oversight and scrutiny, and creates division and inflames tensions between communities”.
The four new independent MPs were elected in areas with among the highest proportion of Muslim voters in the UK.
In Blackburn, 46.8 per cent of voters are Muslim, compared with 42.7 per cent in Dewsbury and Batley, 42.9 per cent in Birmingham Perry Barr and 34.8 per cent in Leicester South. Labour had been repeatedly warned in the run-up to the election that its stance on Gaza would leave it vulnerable in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters.
One of Labour’s big shocks was Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, losing his seat to Mr Adam.
Mr Adam, a previous board member for Mend, received a message of support from Mr Corbyn on polling day, which he posted on social media with the caption “Best of luck in Islington North today, look forward to working with you soon. You know you’re on the right side of history when Jeremy Corbyn is endorsing you.”
Meanwhile, Mr Khan won a seat in Birmingham Perry Barr by 507 votes from Labour’s Khalid Mahmood.
Mr Khan quit the Lib Dem party amid a row over anti-Semitism training and went on to run as an independent.
After the Oct 7 massacre, when Hamas infiltrated Israel and murdered more than 1,400 people, Mr Khan posted a video on TikTok claiming he had a “problem with the credibility” of some of the accounts of what took place.
At the time he was a Lib Dem councillor for Birmingham, and his party later released a statement saying he had been cleared of wrongdoing, had “apologised and deleted the post”, and “agreed to undergo anti-Semitism training”.
But Mr Khan said later that he did not approve the statement and did not intend to take the anti-Semitism course. Mr Khan went on to quit the party.
In Blackburn, Labour’s Kate Hollern lost to Adnan Hussain, who said in his online statement to voters: “I promise to make your concerns against the injustice being inflicted against the people of Gaza be heard in the places where our so-called representatives failed.”
In Dewsbury and Batley, Iqbal Mohamed, an independent whose focus areas include a ceasefire in Gaza, beat Heather Iqbal, the Labour candidate.
Footage of Mr Mohamed at a rally last week in Dewsbury shows him encouraging children to boycott Israel, saying: “Go home, find every brand and every product that has been supporting Israel and Zionism from the beginning of time and throw it away, throw it away. Put the list on your fridge, tell your children, when you go to the shop to buy sweets, do not buy this and do not buy that. That is the least we can do.”
He warned the crowd that “we have been complicit indirectly for too long, by electing these Zionists, these unjust leaders”. He urged them to “vote with your conscience. Remember what the sister said. We have to go to our grave, we have to answer to god. And if we put that cross in the right box, then at least we can say to Allah, we did what we could.”
Elsewhere, Labour MPs clung on to their seats despite losing a share of the vote to pro-Gaza candidates.
Labour’s Jess Phillips narrowly managed to hold onto her Birmingham Yardley seat, scraping 11,275 votes compared to the 10,582 won by Jody McIntyre, a pro-Gaza Workers Party candidate. After the result was called, there were shouts and boos from onlookers, including chants of “shame on you” and “free Palestine”.
Ms Phillips, who was shouted at and heckled during her victory speech, spoke of the intimidation her campaign faced and said the election has been “the worst” she has ever stood in.
In Birmingham Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice minister, held off a challenge by Akhmed Yakoob who was running on a Gaza platform.
In her victory speech, Ms Mahmood said the campaign had been “sullied by harassment and intimidation”.She said that “masked men” had disrupted a community meeting, “terrifying those present”.
She hit out at those who had challenged her Muslim faith because of Labour’s position on Gaza. “It is never acceptable to deny anyone their faith, to brand them an infidel,” she said.
This week, a video emerged on social media of Mr Yakoob claiming British Muslims would “feel the wrath of Allah” for inviting Labour politicians into their homes or posing with them for photos.