Around a dozen British-Pakistani and Kashmiri-origin parliamentarians are contesting in winnable seats for the July 4th, 2024 UK elections in a highly charged campaign dominated by the issues of economy, immigration, rising inflation, crime, and Israel’s war on Gaza.
Most of the potential British-Pakistani candidates are contesting in areas of Birmingham and West Midlands (five seats), Greater Manchester (two seats), Bradford (two seats), Bedford and Dewsbury (one seat each), London and Southeast (one seat each), and Scotland (two seats).
In an interesting first-time development, the challenge to Labour ticket-holding candidates comes not from the main parties such as Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Green, or the newly reformatted Reform Party or the Workers Party of Great Britain headed by George Galloway but from an array of independents of Pakistani and Kashmiri origin campaigning on the issue of Gaza.
Almost all the “independents” in these areas campaigned primarily over Israel’s war on Palestine since October 7th last year.
In former safe Labour strongholds with significant numbers of Muslim and Pakistani-origin voters, there is huge anger against the Labour Party and its support for Israel. The independents are trying to exploit that anger, mainly through social media sites such as TikTok, WhatsApp, and Instagram. A lot of fake news, disinformation, and toxicity is at play in these elections.
Below is a list of the high-profile Pakistani and Kashmiri-origin candidates who are either in safe seats, highly likely to win, or running as the main candidates from the major parties.
Birmingham — Ladywood
Shabana Mahmood (Labour) is a high-profile British-Pakistani politician. The Oxford graduate was first elected on the Labour ticket in 2010 and has been winning ever since.
She is considered amongst the close circle of Labour leader Keir Starmer. She won the last election with a majority of 28,000 votes — 80% of the total votes cast. She was Labour’s national campaign coordinator until a few months ago and was part of Starmer’s core team that prepared Labour’s manifesto.
Her opponents this time are Shazna Muzammil (Conservative), Akhmed Yakoob (Independent), Zoe Challenor (Green Party), Lee Dargue (Liberal Democrats), and Irene Henery (Reform UK).
Birmingham — Perry Barr
Khalid Mahmood (Labour) is the senior-most British-Pakistani parliamentarian, having first been elected in 2001. His opponents are Sabah Hamed (Liberal Democrats), Garry Hickton (Conservative), Andy Chaffer (Communist Party of Britain), Kefentse Dennis (Green Party), Akshay Khuttan (Reform UK), and Shangara Singh (Socialist Labour Party). The strongest challenge to Khalid Mahmood is from Ayoub Khan (independent), a local councillor who resigned from the Liberal Democrats a few months ago.
Birmingham — Hall Green & Moseley
Tahir Ali (Labour) was first elected in 2019 with a majority of more than 28,000 votes. This time, he faces challenges from opponents Barrister Mohammad Hafeez (independent), Shakeel Afsar (independent), Zain Ahmed (Green Party), Henry Morris (Conservative Party), Izzy Knowles (Liberal Democrats), and Raja Babar Saleem (independent).
Bradford West
Naz Shah (Labour) is running for re-election on a Labour ticket. One of the highest profile Muslim and Pakistani-origin parliamentarians since her election first in 2015, she is facing challenges from Imad Ahmed (Liberal Democrat), Nigel Moxon (Conservative), Khalid Mahmood (Green Party), Jamie Hinton-Wardle (Reform UK), Umar Ghafoor (independent), Akeel Hussain (independent), and Muhammed Ali Islam (independent).
Bradford East
Imran Hussain (Labour) has opponents Jacob Anstey (Reform UK), Aubrey Holt (Conservative), Robert O’Carroll (Liberal Democrat), Richard Riley (Social Democratic Party), Lara Barras (The Yorkshire Party), and Celia Hickson (Green Party) standing against him. Mohammed Rahman (independent), Amer Rehman (independent), and Talat Sajawal (independent) are likely to pick up lots of votes.
Bolton South and Walkden
Yasmin Qureshi (Labour) was first elected in 2010. Her main opponents are Prof Reis Abraham Halliwell (Independent), Mohammed Afzal (Conservative), Gemma-Jane Bowker (Liberal Democrat), Jack Khan (Workers Party), Philip Kochitty (Green Party), and Julie Pattison (Reform UK).
Coventry South
Activist and campaigner Zarah Sultana (Labour) was first elected in 2019 with a slim margin of 401 votes. Her main opponents are Chris Baddon (Reform UK), Mattie Heaven (Conservative), Alastair Mellon (Social Democratic Party), Joshua Morland (independent), Niko Omilana (independent), Anne Patterson (Green Party), Stephen Richmond (Liberal Democrat), and Mohammed Syed (Workers Party of Britain).
Gillingham and Rainham
Rehman Chishti (Conservative) is currently the senior-most Muslim parliamentarian of the Tory party, first elected in 2010. This time around, he has Naushabah Khan (Labour), Stuart Bourne (Liberal Democrat), Kate Belmonte (Green Party), Roger Peacock (Christian Peoples Alliance), Rizvi Rawoof (Reform UK), Peter Wheeler (Social Democratic Party), and Peter Cook (independent) running against him.
London — Tooting
Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour) is half-Pakistani and half-Polish. She was first elected in 2016 in a by-election when Sadiq Khan became London Mayor and resigned from his seat. Her opponents are Ethan Brooks (Conservative), Judith Trounson (Liberal Democrat), Tarik Hussain (Workers Party of Britain), Jas Alduk (Rejoin EU), Nick Humberstone (Green Party), Andrew Price (Reform UK), and Davinder Jamus (independent).
Manchester — Rusholme
Afzal Khan (Labour) was first elected in 2017 in a by-election from Manchester Gorton. In the last general election in 2019, Khan won with a majority of more than 30,000 votes. The former councillor, European Parliament member, and Lord Mayor is running to become the MP again from the newly formed Manchester Rusholme. His opponents are Alexandra Marsanu (Conservative), Thirza Asanga-Rae (Green Party), Mohhamed Bilal (Workers Party of Britain), Peter Clifford (Communist League), Joel McGuigan (Reform UK), and Faraz Bhatti (independent).
Meriden and Solihull East
Saqib Bhatti (Conservative) was first elected in 2019 from the safe Tory seat on a lead of 23,000 votes. He’s facing competition from Sarah Alan (Labour), Malcolm Sedgley (Reform UK), Shesh Sheshabhatter (Green Party), and Virk (Liberal Democrat).
Sussex Weald
Nusrat Ghani (Conservative) was first elected in 2015 from the safe Tory seat. She has served in various cabinet positions in the last three Tory governments. This time, she is facing Dipesh Patel (Labour), Danielle Newson (Liberal Democrat), Stephen Gander (Social Democratic Party), Austin Henderson (Green Party), Dominie Stemp (Heritage Party), Chris Magness (UKIP), David Morgan (Reform UK), and Shaun Bowler (independent).
Bedford
Mohammad Yasin (Labour) was first elected in 2017 from this seat. Though he won again in 2019, it was with the thinnest majority of just 146 votes. While seeking re-election this time, he faces competition from Prince Sadiq Chaudhury (Workers Party), Pinder Chauhan (Conservative), Ben Foley (Green Party), Tarek Javed (independent), Matt Lansley (Reform UK), and Henry Vann (Liberal Democrat).
Dewsbury and Batley
Labour’s candidate for Dewsbury and Batley is Heather Iqbal. Her father is Pakistani and her mother is English. She is contesting the general election for the first time and is considered a strong ally of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Her opponents are Iqbal Hussain (independent), John Edward Rossington (Liberal Democrats), and Lalit Raghunath (Conservative).
Airdrie and Shotts — Scotland
Scottish Pakistani Anum Qaisar has been given a ticket by the Scottish National Party (SNP) again. Qaisar was first elected in a by-election around three years ago. Her opponents in this election are Alexandra Herdman (Conservative), Kenneth Stevenson (Labour), Lewis Younie (Liberal Democrat), Josh Robertson (Alba), David Hall (Reform UK), and John Leckie (British Unionist Party).
Glasgow South West — Scotland
Dr. Zubir Ahmed is standing for Labour in Glasgow South West, a seat where the party came within 60 votes of winning in 2017. Labour requires a 6.43% swing to win in the constituency, one of the 126 the party needs to secure a majority in the House of Commons. The 42-year-old is a transplant and vascular specialist in Glasgow. His main opponents are Green Party’s John Hamelink, Liberal Democrat’s Paul McGarry, Reform UK’s Morag McRae
