Independent Muslim who defeated Labor in Leicester says victory was not ‘sectarian’ | 2024 general election

The man who scored a shock general election victory by ousting shadow cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth has hit out at claims that the wave of strong demonstrations by independent Muslim candidates represents the rise of the “sectarian” vote.

Shocked Adam, an optometrist, caused a huge upset by beating Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general and a familiar face in Labour’s election campaign, to become the new MP for Leicester South.

Adam was one of three independent Muslim candidates to win Labor-held seats amid anger over the party’s stance on Gaza, with Labor also losing Blackburn and Birmingham Perry Barr.

Another independent candidate, Iqbal Mohamed, won the new seat of Dewsbury and Batley.

Other Labor MPs just held on to their seats: new Health Secretary Wes Streeting won just 528 more votes than Leanne Mohamad in Ilford North, while Naz Shah held on to his Bradford seat by barely more of 700 votes.

Early analysis of the election results by the think tank More in Common shows that Labour’s share of the vote fell sharply in places with large Muslim populations.

The string of successes by Muslim independents sparked a backlash, with journalist Stephen Pollard describing them as “the rise of the sectarian vote”, while Telegraph columnist Sam Ashworth-Hayes condemned their victories as: “Complete and utter failures of integration”.

Talking to Observer, Adam said: “What people do is exercise their democratic rights for things that concern them. People in certain positions of power and in the media harmonize terminologies, causing division between communities.

“And this is just another example of that, when minority involvement or Muslim involvement in the political system is seen as a threat for some reason, when all they’re doing is exercising their democratic right and doing part of the democratic process. “

At Leicester South’s result announcement, Adam said: “This is for the people of Gaza”, but his acceptance speech also referred to the cost of living crisis and the state of the NHS. His key campaign pledges also covered the housing crisis, and he emphasized that his campaign targeted all demographics and ethnicities.

“I was very conscious of making this more than a single-issue campaign,” he said. “I am a healthcare professional. I am an optometrist by profession. And I know the backlog, the problems and the consequences of an inefficiently run NHS service.

“The housing crisis, I knew about it, but I didn’t know the extent of the problem until I started my campaign, where I went to so many places, people’s homes. And mainly when I was speaking at events or in my campaign, housing was the main issue.”

He said Labour’s position on Gaza – and in particular Sir Keir Starmer’s comments last October that Israel had the right to cut off electricity and water in Gaza – had angered voters and driven them to him. But he characterized his victory as part of a wider backlash against the political mainstream.

“How many times have I heard, ‘I hope you’re not from Labour, mate.’ Or: “I hope you’re not a Tory mate”, “I won’t vote, there’s no point”. I’ve heard that repeatedly,” he said. “There is apathy, there is a lack of rights. They just feel that the two parties do not represent them.”

However, local Labor sources complained of intimidation and harassment during the campaign, which saw Ashworth confronted in Gaza while canvassing. An anonymous leaflet, with a picture of the former MP, said: “Vote for genocide – vote Labour”.

“Leicester has never seen a campaign like this before,” said the Labor source, who also claimed some of those who had signed Ashworth’s nomination papers had been pressured to withdraw their support.

A spokesman for Adam said on Saturday: “The campaign was a grassroots community effort which took into account genuine community concerns and was run in full compliance with election regulations.

“We condemn any form of intimidation or harassment as it does not reflect our values.”

An organization called the Muslim Vote supported a number of independent and non-mainstream candidates in the election, including the four independent Muslim candidates who were elected, plus former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, who held his Islington North seat as an independent, and George Galloway. , who lost his Rochdale seat to Labour.

“We’ve really seen Muslim communities stand up and say, you know, if you want to represent us, then you have to represent our political positions,” said Muslim Vote coordinator Abubakr Nanabawa.

“And this goes beyond Gaza – I think in talking to Muslims across the country, two of the things that came up quite often were the cap on the two-child benefit and the refusal to remove it, and the state of the NHS.”

Insurgent campaigns against Labor MPs have not been without controversy. Jess Phillips, who held her seat of Birmingham Yardley by just under 700 votes, was hammered at the count after an acrimonious campaign in which she said her campaigners had their car tires slashed and abuse shouted in their faces.

Akhmed Yakoob, who failed in his bid to win Birmingham Ladywood, was revealed to have made misogynistic comments and joked about domestic violence. “We do not accept these comments at all,” said Yakoob’s Nanabawa. “I think what’s actually interesting to see is that these comments may have contributed in some way to his lack of success.”