An independent candidate who tapped into local residents’ anger over the war in Gaza has defeated the Labor Party in Blackburn.
Lawyer Adnan Hussein won an impressive victory with 10,518 votes, just ahead of the Labor Party Kate Hollernis 10,386.
Hollern entered the election campaign defending a healthy majority of 18,616 votes in the 2019 election.
Hussein promised to be “a voice for everyone” in the constituency in a video speech when he announced his candidacy.
Workers’ Party of Great Britain candidate John Murray came in third place with 7,105 votes.
Around a third of Blackburn’s residents are Muslim and the previously secure Labor headquarters was one of several the party considered vulnerable due to outrage from many who felt it had not spoken out strongly enough against the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
In his candidacy video, Hussain promised to ensure that voters’ concerns about Gaza were “heard loud and clear in the places where our so-called representatives have failed”.
Hollern’s defeat was Labour’s second defeat to an independent, after Jonathan Ashworth lost Leicester South to Shockat Adam.
Attendance in Blackburn fell from 61.8% in 2019 to 53.1%.
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