The Green Party of the United Kingdom wins a by-election with adverts in Urdu and by singing «My blood is Palestinian».»
The environmentalists have, against all odds, won the Gorton and Denton seat (Greater Manchester) thanks to the Muslim vote, with messages in Urdu, references to Gaza and the support of a Salafist leader.
Green Party video in Urdu
[social-share align=»right» style=»button» mobile_app=»desktop»]
[social-share align=»center» style=»icon» mobile_app=»mobile»]
On Friday 27 February a by-election was held in the British constituency of Gorton and Denton, in the Greater Manchester area. The by-election was called because the seat in the House of Commons had become vacant following the resignation of the previous MP for health reasons. The surprise is that, for the first time since 1935, the Labour Party has lost the seat, which was won by the Greens. Candidate Hannah Spencer secured 40.7% of the vote, Reform UK 28.7% and the Labour Party 25.4%.
The victory of the environmentalists was unexpected and has sparked recriminations among the traditional parties. Observers and rivals they have attributed the result to the influence of Muslim organisations and communities, criticising this influence as “sectarian”. Muslims already make up 30 per cent of the electorate in the constituency.
The dance of «My blood is Palestinian»
The circulation of a video in which the candidate is seen dancing to the tune of “My Blood Is Palestinian” with her neighbours is one of the actions that have helped secure the Muslim vote. The gesture conveys an explicit identification with an emotional issue that has no bearing on the lives of voters in the United Kingdom.
The role of The Muslim Vote in electoral strategy
The Muslim Vote is an initiative a political activism created in the United Kingdom to mobilise the Muslim electorate and influence the election results. Activists of the Green Party promoted an article by one of its members, the Islamic scholar Shaykh Dr Haitham al-Haddad, in which He argued that Muslim voters should assess their support for the Greens based on the interests and priorities of the Muslim community.. Haitham al-Haddad is a British Islamic preacher of Saudi origin known for his conservative religious positions. Various analysts place him within Salafist or conservative traditionalist currents, especially on social and moral issues.
Haitham's article Published in Islam21C and disseminated by party activists, it calls for The vote of Muslims is not based on personal preferences but on religious criteria.. He writes: “Muslims should not act according to their whims and desires, but on the basis of our Islamic principles.”. He also states that it is not enough to value local issues such as healthcare, housing or security. We need to look at “how the way we vote can affect Muslims worldwide”. And he adds: “We also have a moral responsibility towards these brothers and sisters.”, in reference to the situation in Gaza.
In parallel, the text asks whether the Labour Party “really deserves Muslim support” and argues that a Green victory “could force Labour to take more positive measures” aligned with “the interests and values… including British Muslims"”. In this context, the author directs his vote to the Greens because the Green candidate has condemned what she describes as a “genocide” in Gaza, has expressed solidarity with British Muslims and has taken a stand against Islamophobia. He argues that The result could have national and even global consequences., and goes on to describe the moment in providential terms: “It is as if Allah had favoured these brothers and sisters with the ability to make a decision that could help determine the long-term future of the entire country.”.
The Green Party's Urdu campaign with Starmer, Modi and Netanyahu
Days before the vote, controversy had already erupted. The Green Party distributed campaign videos and leaflets in Urdu. —and later also in Bengali— addressed to the Muslim voters of Gorton and Denton. In one of the videos, the candidate Hannah Spencer appears speaking Urdu and visiting local businesses while criticising both the Labour Party and Reform UK over Gaza.
The images included Keir Starmer shaking hands with Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) and Benjamin Netanyahu. The idea behind all this is to connect with Pakistani and Muslim voters in general through conflicts that have no bearing on their lives in the United Kingdom.
The use of religious identity as an electoral weapon
The Green Party's victory has been accompanied by severe accusations from commentators and political rivals. In remarks to GB News, political commentator Khadija Khan said that The Greens had “used religious identity as a weapon” and that this strategy had been deployed “in full view” through candidate Hannah Spencer's campaign video, entirely in Urdu. According to Khan, the party allegedly exploited religious sentiment linked to Gaza to mobilise Muslim voters, describing the by-election result as an example of “Islamic sectarianism.”.
Critics have also pointed to possible “family voting” practices and to the influence of community networks in electoral mobilisation. In this regard, Khadija Khan stated that it would be “naive” to underestimate the weight of community dynamics and asserted that, in some settings, “it seems they have no idea how to exercise their right as individuals. Not as part of the family, not as part of the community, not as part of the imam, but simply as individuals”. The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, also spoke of “”serious doubts about the integrity of the democratic process" in areas with a high Muslim concentration and announced that his party had lodged complaints with the electoral commission.
Panic in the Labour Party
The defeat in Gorton and Denton has raised all the alarm bells in the Labour Party. Keir Starmer wrote to his MPs warning that “The Greens are not the harmless environmentalists they pretend to be.”In private, however, prominent party figures acknowledge that The Greens' ability to mobilise the Muslim vote shows that they are building a political machine similar to the one that Labour has used for decades.. “They did many things with the grassroots, convincing people that they were best placed to defeat the Reformists,” admits a Labour source. In a scenario where progressive voters were seeking a viable option to halt Reform UK, persuading community networks that a party was best placed to win “made a big difference.”.
The unease is not just tactical, but structural. Historically, the Labour Party has relied heavily on Muslim support, but The government's stance on Gaza and the toughening of migration policy have eroded this base.. Party MPs admit to having encountered growing hostility, especially towards Minister Shabana Mahmood and the plans to make it harder to obtain permanent residency. All in all. it has opened up a wider debate about the influence of community networks on electoral mobilisation and the risk that traditional Labour voters might abandon the party without necessarily strengthening the right. “This is the real danger for us in the upcoming elections,” another internal source summarises.
More Perceptions of
More about the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom gives away a thousand hijabs in six months to immigrants arriving via the Channel
A student residence in Scotland imposes Islamic law in common areas
Scottish independence removes flags from Scotland so as not to inconvenience immigrants
Muslim school that forces hijab on 7-year-old girls moves to UK public system
UK detects Muslim gangs forcing prisoners to convert to Islam to survive
Convicted in the United Kingdom for a joke about Islam on social media.
British Islamism is already talking about training Muslims in martial arts in mosques.
A report on rape gangs in the United Kingdom links Islam with violence and the state's inaction.
The Welsh police will record comments it considers “hostile” towards Islam.
ERC, PSC and Comuns oppose combating political Islam in the European Parliament.
Azerbaijan expels students who wear Islamic headscarves from school
Sharia law in the US is supported by 75% of Muslims, 41% of atheists and up to 20% of Christians.
France now has a halal meat supply without the need to sacrifice animals facing Mecca.
The United Kingdom gives away a thousand hijabs in six months to immigrants arriving via the Channel
US Muslim politicians train Canadian Muslims under the slogan "From the mosque to the city hall"«
Teacher fired in Austria for denying a Muslim woman a prayer room
Canadian government normalizes Islamic prayer during workday
Lleida bans the burqa except if worn for religious reasons
Italy bans burqa and niqab but only in schools
The Generalitat pays tribute to the racist Abu Bakr al-Turtuxí as an anti-racist icon
A student residence in Scotland imposes Islamic law in common areas
Kazakhstan threatens to close private schools that allow hijab
A Catholic university in Belgium incorporates Islamic chants into the opening mass of the course
A Muslim family in Granada chooses a Catholic school and demands that the courts teach Islam there
Phrase of the Week
Image of the Week
-Don't you have cousins?