How the Gaza War Affects the British Elections?
The Gaza War is a major factor in determining voter trends in the British general election held on Thursday, and the Labour Party appears to be in a difficult position due to the disappointment felt by voters with the party’s performance on the Palestinian issue.
The Labour Party is still in opposition, and therefore has no say in British foreign policy until at least Thursday’s election.
The war in Gaza looms over almost everything in the British election, and voters from the left and Muslim communities are angry at the Labour Party’s delay in demanding a ceasefire by Israel in the Gaza Strip, and they seem determined to make their voices heard.
Challenges for voters
According to the American newspaper “Politico”, Labour Party officials are aware that they are facing battles over Gaza in multiple seats across the United Kingdom.
The Gaza War has put many candidates in a difficult position, such as Naz Shah, the Labour MP for Bradford West, who was expected to achieve a landslide success in this election, but she faces a fierce battle in light of the fact that many of her Muslim supporters abandoned her due to what they considered “a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.”
Bradford West is one of the most Muslim-majority constituencies in England, and as a result Shah, who has been one of the most prominent Muslim MPs in the British parliament and has long been a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, now finds herself pleading with voters not to withdraw her support.
Impact of the Palestinian crisis
Protesters have previously accused Shah of supporting the killing of Palestinians, because she remains a Labour candidate and supports its leader Keir Starmer, who has previously said that “Israel has the right to cut off electricity and water to Gaza”.
In the Bristol Central constituency, Thangam Debbonaire is Labour’s shadow culture secretary, putting her on the list of candidates for a ministerial post if Labour wins Thursday’s election, but she could face the same dilemma Shah faced over the Palestinian issue.
In Rochdale, a town in northwest England with a large Muslim community, Labour was forced to withdraw its support for its parliamentary candidate in a by-election in February, when he was filmed suggesting that Israel had allowed a Hamas attack.
As a result, George Galloway, a left-wing pro-Palestine activist with a history of disrupting the Labour Party, is seen as a landslide winner. Shabana Mahmood, one of Starmer’s most trusted allies who is set to become justice secretary, is also under pressure in her Birmingham Ladywood constituency, in Britain’s second-largest city, over the same issue.
