LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “concerned” by areas where his party failed to win votes – as the July 4 election results showed a dramatic collapse for Labor in constituencies with the highest proportion of Muslims. .
Speaking to reporters in Wales, the Prime Minister was asked if he agreed there was a problem between the Labor Party and British Muslims after the decline in vote share in areas with high Muslim populations.
We’re now holding seats in parts of the country that have never had a Labor MP, so it’s an incredibly strong seat.”
He added that where his party did not get votes, it would work to “solve”.
These were the 61-year-old prime minister’s first comments after Labor lost five key seats to pro-Palestinian candidates, came close to losing nearly 10 seats in Muslim areas and saw nearly 50 pro-Gaza candidates win the election. .
Estimates show that in the 21 seats where more than 30% of the population is Muslim, Labour’s share fell by 29 percentage points from an average of 65% in 2019 to 36% in 2024.
Voter turnout in these seats also fell steeper than average (down 11.2 percentage points), suggesting that some disaffected Muslim voters abstained while others voted for other candidates.
In these seats, the total Labor vote fell from over 600,000 in 2019 to just under 300,000 in 2024. This is the equivalent of more than half of Labour’s total national decline between the two elections. Labor lost 537,688 votes compared to 2019.
The loss of the Muslim vote was also a problem for Labor in some places with smaller Muslim communities.
In the next 43 most Muslim constituencies (between 15% and 30% of the population), Labor lost another 300,000 votes.
The Labor Party was sent a strong message not to take Muslim voters for granted after five independent pro-Palestinian candidates, including former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, won the July 4 general election, with Israel’s war in Gaza a key issue for voters.
Other independent candidates who won their seats from Labor on Friday over Israel’s war on Palestine and Labour’s support for the war include Shockat Adam in Leicester South, Ayoub Khan and Batley.
In several constituencies, Labour’s majorities were significantly reduced and more than half a dozen key Labor candidates came close to losing the election to pro-Gaza Independents candidates.
Starmer, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Labor Party, had his own majority trimmed and was booed by cries of “Free Palestine” at the polling station in his constituency of Holborn and St Pancras. count because it was declared that he had won his place.
Starmer’s majority decreased significantly from 22,766 in 2019 to 11,572.
A Downing Street statement confirmed the new prime minister’s “clear and urgent need for a ceasefire” in a phone call to Israel’s Netanyahu.
