Pro-Palestinian candidates, including Corbyn, secure UK election victories | Election News

Former Labor Party leader and pro-Palestine activist Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected in Islington North as an independent candidate.

Five pro-Palestinian independent candidates, including former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, won the UK general election, with Israel’s war in Gaza one of the key issues for voters.

The other four independent candidates who won their seats from the Labor Party on Friday include Shockat Adam in Leicester South, Ayoub Khan in Birmingham Perry Barr, Adnan Hussain in Blackburn and Iqbal Mohamed in Dewsbury and Batley.

Both the Conservatives, who were defeated in the election, and Labor have said they want the fighting in Gaza to stop. However, they supported Israel’s right to defend itself, angering pro-Palestinian and Muslim voters across the country.

Labor leader Keir Starmer, who will be the next prime minister, was heckled with chants of “Free Palestine” at both polling stations in Holborn and St Pancras.
constituency and in the electoral count as it was declared that he won his seat.

Corbyn, 75, who has represented the London constituency of Islington North for more than 40 years, was re-elected after defeating Labour’s Praful Nargund by 24,120 votes to 16,873.

He said those who voted for him were “looking for a government that on the world stage seeks peace, not war, and does not allow the terrible conditions to continue in Gaza at the moment.”

In a separate statement on Friday morning thanking his supporters, Corbyn said the result was a “glimpse of a different future, one that puts the interests of the many ahead of the interests of the few”.

“It is also a warning – a warning to the new government that dissent cannot be crushed without consequences.

“It has been the honor of my life to represent you, the people of Islington North. I will continue to learn from you, be accountable to you, and be inspired by you. The future we speak of is not a dream; our community is proof that a kinder, more just world is possible.”

Tonight we made history.

This is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/tY1MdOAsjY

-Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 5, 2024

Adam unseated Labor leader Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South. Mohamed, whose main areas of action include a ceasefire in Gaza, defeated Labor candidate Heather Iqbal in Dewsbury and Batley.

In Blackburn, Labour’s Kate Hollern lost to Adnan Hussain, who said in his online statement to voters: “I promise to make your concerns about the injustice inflicted on the people of Gaza heard in the places where our so-called representatives have failed. . ”

As leader, Corbyn moved the Labor Party from the center and energized its supporters. He led the Labor Party in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union and did better than expected in the 2017 general election. However, the party performed poorly in the 2019 election and he stepped down as leader.

His period as party leader was highly controversial, with supporters saying his popular policies were drowned out by negative media coverage and critics attacking his approach to Brexit, his handling of allegations of anti-Semitism and his appeal in traditional Labor heartlands.

He was suspended from the party in 2020 after refusing to accept the findings of an investigation by a human rights watchdog into allegations that anti-Semitism was rife under his leadership.

At the start of the election, Corbyn announced that he would contest the electorate as “an independent voice for equality, democracy and peace”.