General Elections - Community Explainer
What happened?
Labour won and 14 years of Conservative government came to an end. For many this will have been received with much relief and hope for a less austere and chaotic government than we have had for the past 14 years. However, for many others, particularly within the British Arab community, Labour’s victory is marred by the Party’s recent policies on Gaza.
Even in this context, there is good news and that is that your voices were heard and had an impact.
- Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Benjamin Netanyahu that there is a “clear and urgent” need for a ceasefire in Gaza.
- Richard Hermer KC was appointed Attorney General. The barrister opposed Michael Gove’s anti-BDS bill and was part of a group of eight Jewish lawyers who called on Israel to obey international law.
- The new Labour Government immediately scrapped the controversial and unconscionable Rwanda deportation plan which would have seen asylum-seekers, many of whom are of Arab origin, removed from the UK to the African country.
- The first British Yemeni female MP was elected into Parliament. Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed now represents Sheffield Central. Read more here.
- There were historic wins for the Greens whose representation went from one MP to four; the Greens have consistently and very vociferously called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
- The Liberal Democrats also gained their highest number of seats in recent history, which increased from 11 MPs to 71. They have also consistently called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
- Five independent candidates ran campaigns on an anti-war platform and won against Labour and Conservative candidates (including incumbents): Jeremy Corbyn, Shockat Adam Annan Hussain, Ayoub Khan, and Iqbal Hussain Mohamed.