MEND STATEMENT: Devastating Collapse of Labour Party Muslim Vote, Muslim Census Survey Findings

A massive survey conducted by Muslim Census and distributed by MEND shows that Labour has suffered a significant collapse in the Muslim vote over its stance toward Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.

From among a huge sample of 30,000 Muslims spread across 575 Parliamentary constituencies, 66% expressed a drop in support for Labour. Damningly, the research shows that if there were a general election in the immediate days ahead, it is likely Labour would only receive around 4.9% of the Muslim vote. To put that into perspective, in 2019 the party received 71% of the Muslim vote share. However, there is no solace to be found in this dataset for the Conservative party, as it also showed an 8% dip in Muslim support for that party, and that only 0.6% of Muslims would vote for them if there were an election tomorrow. The electoral consequences of this in marginal seats with large Muslim populations could be significant.

Such findings should hardly be a surprise for Labour, considering the widespread revulsion among Muslims toward comments made by the party’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer, on October 11. During an interview with LBC, Mr Starmer claimed that “Israel has the right” to cut off power and water from Gaza in self-defence. Bizarrely, he added the caveat that this would be acceptable as long as it is “done within international law.” This is nonsensical, considering that the collective punishment of a civilian population is considered a war crime under The Geneva Conventions, and can therefore never be done in a way that satisfies international law. Senior Labour figures such as Shadow Attorney General for England & Wales, Emily Thornberry, and Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, then went on to regurgitate similar claims.

While these Labour figures lamented the deaths caused to Israeli civilians by Hamas’ October 7 attack, there was little mention given to the staggeringly high number of innocent souls who have perished as a consequence of Israel unleashing its war machine on the beleaguered 2.3 million residents of Gaza.

The results of this survey should give cause for pause to a political establishment that seems determined to uncritically throw its support behind Israeli state brutality, despite the mounting UN-documented evidence of war crimes against Palestinians. Now, mainstream parties, and Labour specifically, will have to reckon with the fact that doing so will come with a significant cost at the ballot box. In order to show British Muslims that it takes their concerns seriously, Labour must show its moral backbone and stand up to Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. Both the Labour and Conservative leaderships should call for an immediate ceasefire, full access to all humanitarian aid and a condemnation of Israeli war crimes.