On a momentous night for Keir Starmer and the Labour party, nothing was going to detract from the celebrations. But the results weren’t all positive. Among the matters for Labour to ponder when the hangovers have cleared is the loss of four seats to pro-Palestinian candidates amid dissatisfaction over the party’s stance on the Gaza war. Here is more about the four independents who upset the odds.
Shockat Adam, Leicester South
Adam, 51, an optician with his own practice in Leicester, took the biggest Labour scalp, unseating the shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth. After winning by just under 1,000 votes, he held up a keffiyeh (a headscarf commonly identified with the Palestinian cause) and declared: “This is for the people of Gaza.”
Adam has Indian roots and has lived in Leicester since the age of three when his family moved from Malawi, according to Middle East Eye. He told the website he had previously canvassed for Labour but had become disenchanted with the party, saying: “The Palestinian cause is very close to the community’s heart yet when they needed a loud and clear and distinct voice it was lacking.”
At the same time, like the other pro-Palestinian candidates, he was keen not to be seen as a single-issue candidate. His campaign website talks about Gaza – one of his main policy pledges was to stand for global peace and justice, with an explicit reference to “a genocide being committed” – but also much more. His other main policy pledges were to protect the NHS, champion affordable housing and tackle the cost of living crisis.
His website says his optician’s practice has raised thousands of pounds for medical and environmental charities. He had a celebrity endorsement in the shape of the former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq, who in 2021 appeared before MPs to talk about the racism he had faced when playing for the county.
Adnan Hussain, Blackburn
Hussain, a 34-year-old solicitor, beat Labour by just 132 votes in Blackburn, the constituency once held by the former home secretary Jack Straw. Upon his victory, Hussain said: “This is for Gaza. I cannot deny that I stand here as the result of a protest vote on the back of a genocide.”
He had the support of local councillors who had resigned from Labour in protest at the party’s response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and formed the 4BwD (Blackburn with Darwen) group, which, after the May local elections, became the borough’s second largest party and official opposition to Labour.
In his candidacy video Hussain promised to make sure constituents’ concerns about Gaza were “heard loud and clear in the places where our so-called representatives have failed”. According to the Lancashire Telegraph, at his campaign launch Hussain also spoke about assisting small businesses and enterprises in the town to create greater opportunities for young people, thereby encouraging people to stay in Blackburn, and about supporting the most vulnerable.
He was admitted as a solicitor in August 2022 and is a director at Bank View Solicitors in Blackburn.
On Sunday the Sunday Telegraph reported that Hussain told a Free Palestine rally in 2014 that Israel’s military operation in the summer of that year was a “holocaust” and called for a boycott of companies that supported the country. “They let Gaza burn, they hate Gaza. Now let’s make Israel burn, let’s make Israel burn,” he said.
Hussain told the paper he had been “speaking from a place of very high emotion triggered by what I very clearly state in the speech in question [is] a genocide”. He said: “The speech itself, other than a potential failure in adequate articulation of my point, carries a very positive and inclusive message when listened to as a whole.”
Iqbal Mohamed, Dewsbury and Batley
Mohamed, an engineer and IT consultant, defeated Heather Iqbal, a former adviser to the new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, by almost 7,000 votes. Mohamed had quit the Labour party over its stance on Gaza, and the plight of Palestinians played a big part in his campaign, but he said his victory was due to “a combination of several things”.
Although he stood as an independent, he took part in a selection process run by an independent panel put together by the North Kirklees Community Action Group and Independent Kirklees, two community groups dissatisfied with the status quo. From applications received by the two groups, the selection panel shortlisted nine candidates to go forward for interview and then whittled it down to four to take part in hustings, with Mohamed emerging as the eventual winner.
Mohamed, who attended Durham University, says he is proud to be Dewsbury-born and -bred. His parents move from India in the 1960s, according to Hyphen, a news site. In an online statement, he said his initial focus would be “fighting for a ceasefire and two-state peace agreement in Gaza, tackling the cost of living crisis, fighting to save the NHS and Dewsbury hospital, funding for all essential services, town regeneration, safer streets and environmental and consumer safety and protection”. He said the local community had been “neglected and ignored by the Tories and Labour for decades”.
While his political affiliations may not be mainstream, he is on more traditional ground with his favourite biscuit choice, a chocolate Hobnob.
Ayoub Khan, Birmingham Perry Barr
Khan, a barrister, beat Khalid Mahmood, England’s first Muslim MP, who had held the seat since 2001. Khan was formerly a Liberal Democrat councillor, first elected to Birmingham city council in 2003. He quit the Lib Dems and stood as an independent after claiming he had been told he could only be the party’s candidate for Perry Barr if he agreed to “hush up” about Gaza.
Khan was criticised last year after posting a TikTok video in which he questioned the credibility of some accounts of the Hamas October 7 massacre, including about beheadings of babies (which the Israeli government press office later said were not true) and rape.
The Lib Dems responded by saying he had “apologised and deleted the post” in question and “agreed to undergo antisemitism training” but reportedly cleared him of any wrongdoing. However, Khan later posted another video in which he said: “At no stage have I considered my material on TikTok offensive, nor have I agreed with anyone that I would undergo a training course in antisemitism. There is simply no need.”
A statement on the Who Can I Vote For? website said: “Ayoub declared that he would stand as an independent following his reluctance to be silenced on the topic of Gaza by his former political party … Ayoub said that money wasted in foreign wars would have been better used in our country where we have a crisis. The cost of living, crime, antisocial behaviour, homelessness, unemployment and health services are all key priorities for him if elected.”