- Labour will tackle vote loss, says Keir Starmer.
- The Labor Party lost seats to independent and pro-Palestine candidates.
- UK PM presses Netanyahu to declare ceasefire in Gaza
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is “concerned” about areas where his party failed to win votes as the results of the July 4 election showed there has been a dramatic Labour collapse in constituencies with the highest proportions of Muslims.
Speaking to reporters in Wales, the Prime Minister was asked if he accepts there is a problem between the Labour Party and British Muslims, following a drop in vote share in areas with a high Muslim population.
Starmer said: “A lot of people voted Labour in that general election when they never had before. We now have seats in parts of the country that have never had a Labour MP, so this is an incredibly strong mandate.
“Of course, where we couldn't get votes, that worries me.”
He added that in cases where his party does not get the necessary votes, he will work to “resolve the problem.”
These were the first comments from the 61-year-old prime minister after the Labour Party lost five key seats to pro-Palestine candidates, came close to losing almost 10 seats in Muslim voting areas and it emerged that nearly 50 pro-Gaza candidates had won 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.
Turnout also fell more sharply than average (down 11.2 percentage points) in these districts, suggesting that some disaffected Muslim voters abstained while others voted for other candidates.
In these constituencies, the total number of Labour votes fell from more than 600,000 in 2019 to just under 300,000 in 2024. That amounts to more than half of the total nationwide fall in the Labour vote between the two elections. Labour has lost 537,688 votes compared to 2019.
The loss of Muslim votes was also a problem for Labour in some constituencies with smaller Muslim communities.
In the 43 constituencies with the largest Muslim populations (between 15% and 30% of the population), Labour lost another 300,000 votes.
The Labour Party has received a strong message not to take the votes of Muslim voters for granted after five pro-Palestine independent candidates, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, won the July 4 general election with Israel's war in Gaza among the key issues for voters.
The other independent candidates who won their seats against Labour on Friday on the issue of Israel's war on Palestine and Labour's support for the war include Shockat Adam in Leicester South, Ayoub Khan in Birmingham Perry Barr, Adnan Hussain in Blackburn and Iqbal Mohamed in Dewsbury and Batley.
In several constituencies, Labour majorities were significantly reduced and more than half a dozen key Labour candidates came close to losing the election to pro-Gaza independent candidates.
Starmer, the UK's new prime minister and leader of the Labour Party, saw his own majority slashed and was booed with chants of “Free Palestine” both at the polling station in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency and at the count of his election when he was declared to have won his seat.
Starmer won with 18,884 votes, while independent pro-Palestinian activist Andrew Feinstein came second with 7,312 voters.
Starmer's majority has dropped significantly from 22,766 in 2019 to 11,572.
Shortly after entering 10 Downing Street, Starmer pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to establish a ceasefire in Gaza in one of his first international phone calls since taking office.
A Downing Street statement confirmed the new prime minister “set out the clear and urgent need for a ceasefire” to Israeli President Netanyahu in a phone call.
In a later call with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister said statehood was an “undeniable right” for the Palestinian people.
