Keir Starmer is on the brink of losing Muslim voters for good

Keir Starmer is on the brink of losing Muslim voters for good

This month, I’ve found myself wondering if Sir Keir Starmer stares wistfully into his morning brew, questioning whether his path to becoming prime minister is a sure thing. No doubt the recent two thumping by-election wins will help convince him it is.

Yet we cannot forget that the Labour leader has had quite a week – perhaps summed up by the fact that in the Rochdale by-election on 29 February, the name of the now disowned candidate Azhar Ali will still be appearing next to Labour’s emblem because the ballot papers had already been printed. It has been an almighty mess.

Whenever I have conversations about the upcoming general election, I am hard pressed to hear “authority” and “strength” uttered in the same breath as “Keir” and “Starmer”.

A poll earlier this week showed that Labour’s lead over the Tories has fallen to its lowest level since last June, and while it is just one poll, I can quite believe that support for Labour is waning. Starmer has flip-flopped through a series of U-turns and damaging blunders. He has raised the rightful ire of many Muslim voters following his disastrous comments on LBC in October when he stated that Israel has a right to cut off water and electricity in Gaza.

He backtracked, sort of clarified, and then dithered, initially refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire. Now, though, he is finally calling for a “sustainable ceasefire,” whatever that actually means in practice. His confused messaging was not what I expected of an opposition Labour leader. There has been little robustness on policy or even the kind of rebellious clout we would traditionally see in the Labour camp. Starmer’s refusal to heed the concerns of over 250 Muslim Labour councillors and dozens of MPs who demanded he call for a ceasefire in Gaza – resulting in 29 councillors resigning – left his loyal colleagues feeling ignored, angry, and betrayed, as well as voters like me.

What makes Starmer’s stance so much harder to stomach is that Lord Cameron, the Tory Foreign Secretary, is making him – and Sunak for that matter – look weak on this issue. I’d wager David Cameron has garnered more respect across Muslim opinion than Starmer could currently hope for, due to his clear and consistent stance on Gaza: like his call for a Palestinian state, his statement that Israel is in breach of international law if it denies Gaza food and water, his warning over the offensive in Rafah, and calling out “extremist Israeli settlers” forcing Palestinians off land that is “rightfully theirs”.

Voting felt so much simpler when, aged 18, I cast my first ballot paper, marking a cross by the red rose. My dad told me political engagement was my power as he drove us to the Kent polling station in the late 1990s. But today, there is an overriding sense of disempowerment as well as deep disillusionment among Labour Muslim voters as the relentless horrors in Gaza and Rafah unfold, and Labour continues to flounder.

What is shamefully overdue from Starmer is a solid call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, a condemnation of what I believe are war crimes committed in Gaza, where more than 28,000 people have been killed. And we need to see a persuasive call for a Palestinian state, without any more woeful U-turns. These are the paramount concerns for British Muslims, and for Starmer to prove that he values the UK’s Muslim community at all, he needs to show that he is taking them and their concerns seriously.

According to a poll conducted by Survation and the Labour Muslim Network in February, 85 per cent stated that political leaders’ positions on Israel and the Palestinians will be fundamentally important to how they vote at the upcoming general election. While there was a time that being Labour was often perceived as almost synonymous with being Muslim, that relationship has drastically changed. Far less than half of British Muslim voters – 43 per cent – stated they still “intended” to vote Labour while 23 per cent are “undecided”, the poll finds.

If Labour and the Muslim community are set to go through a divorce in the next general election, the big question mark is if Starmer can do anything at this stage to reclaim any ounce of faith – which is more crucial for the survival of the Labour Party than for himself. Even if he is able to lead his party to victory without the so–called “Muslim vote”, what then? What if he doesn’t last more than a term? What of the future of Muslim relations with the Labour Party?

The party is, finally, while painfully belatedly, engaging with members of the Muslim communities through focus groups and polls. But I don’t think that is enough.

Labour is tiptoeing in and for many it is way too little, way too late. Greater lengths have to be taken. Beyond a photo-op or surface-level outreach, it falls on Labour to rebuild their own image, and to be honestly and genuinely committed to listen and act on concerns, instead of seeing this as a panicked scramble to win votes. Urgently, at the very least, there needs to be more substance from the Labour leader, more conviction on the Gaza crisis, more courage and certainly more clarity.

Starmer’s speech at the Civil Society Summit, where he talked of the importance of civil society and faith communities, is a small start. But there’s a long road ahead. Ramadan is coming up in March. I’ve heard of charities and community groups deciding not to engage with politicians at well-attended iftar events, which are usually a big opportunity for political parties to connect with Muslim communities. Never has there been more mistrust and hurt.

So surely, Labour efforts should be made with greater determination, as to be more deeply engaged with British Muslims, as with all faiths and various communities, can salvage an endangered brand of politics – one that actually builds any inch of respect. They must temper the feelings of alienation that diverse and underrepresented sections of British society hold. A growing rejection of political participation is risky, as it can further hurt communities, and a fading democracy could well be exploited by extreme right-wing populism, and further move the markers around marginalisation.

Going forward, we need to see more integrity, not less, more coherence, not less. It’s said we get the leaders we deserve, but surely we deserve better than this.

This article originally appeared in i Newspaper on 17 February 2024. To view it click here.