He won a shock victory in the general election, ousting shadow cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth, and criticised claims that a string of strong performances by independent Muslim candidates reflected a rise in the “sectarian” vote.
Optometrist Shoukat Adam pulled off a major upset by defeating Ashworth, the shadow budget chief and a familiar face on Labour’s election campaigns, to become the new MP for Leicester South.
Adam was one of three independent Muslim candidates to win Labour-held seats amid widespread anger over the party’s stance on Gaza, which also lost its seats in Blackburn and Birmingham Perry Barr.
Another independent candidate, Iqbal Mohammed, won the new seat of Dewsbury and Batley.
Other Labour MPs barely held on to their seats: new Health Secretary Wes Streeting received just 528 more votes than Leanne Mohammad in Ilford North, while Naz Shah retained his seat in Bradford by just over 700 votes.
Early analysis of election results Research by the think tank More in Common has found that Labour’s vote share has fallen sharply in constituencies with large Muslim populations.
The string of successes for independent Muslim businesses has sparked a backlash, with journalist Stephen Pollard writing:The rise of sectarian voting“, meanwhile Telegraph Columnist Sam Ashworth-Hayes denounced their victory as “a total failure of integration”.
talk ObserverAdamu said: “All people are doing is exercising their democratic right over their concerns. People in positions of power and in the media are weaponising jargon to create division between communities.”
“This is just one example of how minority involvement, or Muslim involvement in the political system, is somehow perceived as a threat. But all they’re doing is exercising their democratic rights and participating in the democratic process.”
“This is an election for the people of Gaza,” Adam said at the announcement of the result in Leicester South, but in his acceptance speech he also addressed the cost of living crisis and the state of the National Health Service. The housing crisis was also a key part of his election manifesto, and he stressed his campaign was aimed at all demographics and ethnicities.
“I was very aware that I did not want this to be a single-issue campaign,” he said. “I am a healthcare professional, an optometrist by trade, and I know the delays and problems and consequences that result from inefficiently run NHS services.
“I knew about the housing crisis, but I didn’t realize the magnitude of the problem until I started campaigning. On the campaign trail, I visited a lot of places, people’s homes, and housing was the No. 1 issue when I spoke at events and on the campaign trail.”
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He criticized Labor’s stance on Gaza, especially Comment from Sir Keir Starmer His comments last October about Israel’s right to cut off power and water to the Gaza Strip angered voters and drew them to him, but he also framed his victory as part of a broader backlash against mainstream politics.
“I’ve heard it so many times – ‘I hope I’m not a Labour member’ or ‘I hope I’m not a Conservative member’ or ‘I’m not going to vote, there’s no point,'” he said. “There’s apathy, there’s disenfranchisement. They just feel that these two parties don’t represent them.”
However, local Labour sources have complained of being intimidated and harassed during the election campaign, and Ashworth was confronted over Gaza during the election campaign, with an anonymous leaflet bearing the former MP’s picture and reading: “Vote for genocide – vote Labour”.
“We’ve never seen a campaign like this in Leicester before,” a Labour source said, claiming that some who had signed Mr Ashworth’s nomination papers had been pressured to withdraw their support.
A spokesman for Mr Adamu said on Saturday: “This campaign was a local grassroots effort, took into account genuine community concerns and was conducted in full compliance with election regulations.”
“We condemn any form of intimidation or harassment as it does not reflect our values.”
An organisation called Muslim Vote supported a range of independent and fringe candidates in the election, including four independent Muslim candidates who were elected, as well as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who retained his Islington North seat as an independent, and George Galloway, who lost his Rochdale seat to Labour.
“We’ve really seen the Muslim community stand up and say, if you want to represent us, you have to represent our policy positions,” said Abu Bakr Nanabawa, coordinator of Muslim Boat.
“This is not unique to Gaza. Speaking to Muslims across the country, two issues come up frequently: the two-child benefit cap and the refusal to lift it, and the state of the NHS.”
The rebellion against Labour MPs has not been without controversy: Jess Phillips, who retained her Birmingham Yardley seat by just under 700 votes, was heckled during the vote count after a vitriolic campaign in which she said activists slashed the tyres of her car and shouted abuse in her face.
Ahmed Yaqoob, who missed out on the title with Birmingham Ladywood, was found to have made misogynistic comments and joked about domestic violence. “We do not condone these comments in any way,” Nanabawa said of Yaqoob. “What’s actually interesting is that these comments may have had some impact on his failure to succeed.”
