Pro-Gaza candidates squeeze Labour vote in some constituencies

In Birmingham Perry Barr, Labour’s Khalid Mahmood misplaced to unbiased Ayoub Khan by 507 votes.

In the meantime, unbiased candidates who made the battle in Gaza central to their marketing campaign received in Dewsbury and Batley, in addition to Blackburn, which each beforehand had wholesome Labour majorities.

Different senior Labour figures in areas with giant Muslim populations solely narrowly held their seats after seeing their majorities eaten away.

The newly elected Labour MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, mentioned her occasion’s place on Gaza was a “stain on its report” and, whereas the occasion had “moved in the appropriate route”, it “took a very long time to get there”.

David Lammy – who may very well be set to turn out to be Labour’s overseas secretary – advised the BBC that his occasion would “work with companions to hunt Palestinian recognition” in energy.

Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika mentioned analysts ought to be “barely cautious” about “lumping everybody from a Muslim background into having the identical view”.

She advised BBC Radio 4 that there could have been “extra to it than Gaza” in some areas, with “different area people politics” at play.

In Ilford North, unbiased candidate Leanne Mohamad, who’s the granddaughter of Palestinian refugees, was simply 528 votes behind Mr Streeting.

In Birmingham Ladywood, shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood held off a problem from unbiased candidate and lawyer Akhmed Yakoob, who has a big following on TikTok.

Nevertheless, her majority fell from greater than 32,000 to three,421.

Equally Jess Phillips, who give up the Labour frontbench to vote for a Gaza ceasefire in Parliament final yr, additionally noticed her majority slashed from 13,141 to only 693.

Jody McIntyre, who stood for Mr Galloway’s Staff Social gathering of Britain, got here second.

Ms Phillips confronted shouts and booing as she gave her speech after the end result, describing the marketing campaign as “the worst election I’ve ever stood in” and claiming her activists had confronted intimidation.

In Bethnal Inexperienced and Stepney, in east London, shadow small enterprise minister Rushnara Ali, who was defending a majority of greater than 31,000, beat unbiased candidate Ajmal Masroor by simply 1,689 votes.

At his personal rely, Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer confronted heckles of “Free Palestine” and noticed his majority reduce, with pro-Gaza unbiased Andrew Feinsten coming second with 7,312 votes.

In Islington North, his predecessor as Labour chief, Jeremy Corbyn, retained his seat as an unbiased, after being suspended from the occasion over his response to a report on antisemitism in Labour.

Mr Corbyn beat the Labour candidate by greater than 7,000 votes.

Nevertheless, in Rochdale, Labour’s Paul Waugh ousted Staff Social gathering chief Mr Galloway, simply months after he received the seat in a by-election dominated by the Gaza battle.