Labour councillor who quit over backlash against party’s Gaza stance wins back seat as independent


Will Hazell
Sat, 25 November 2023 

Pro-Palestinian march in London - Paul Grover

Labour has suffered a surprise by-election loss in east London after a local backlash against the party’s stance on the conflict in Gaza.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party lost the Plaistow North ward on Newham council to a former Labour councillor who quit the party in protest at his refusal to demand a ceasefire.

Running as an independent, Sophia Naqvi secured 1,266 votes - 46 per cent of the votes cast.

Labour’s candidate, Aktharul Alam, received 750 votes (27 per cent).

According to the Evening Standard, Ms Naqvi said that an LBC interview last month in which Sir Keir suggested Israel had a right to withhold water and energy from the people of Gaza was the “final straw” which persuaded her to quit.
‘Disgraceful comments were the final straw’

“A few weeks ago, I was still a Labour Party member desperately trying to get our mayor and councillors to call for a ceasefire in Gaza,” she said.

“The Labour leader’s disgraceful comments to LBC were for me the final straw… like many others I left the Labour Party and as a result was persuaded by Newham Independents to be their candidate in the Plaistow by-election.”

However, Ms Naqvi also said she had “fought a campaign on local issues” in the Labour-run borough.

“People are fed up of record council tax bills, crumbling infrastructure and the filthy state of our streets,” she said.

Half of UK Muslims unhappy with Starmer

While Newham retains a large Labour majority, Ms Naqvi’s victory follows another councillor, Zuber Gulamussen, also quitting Labour to become an independent because of the party’s Gaza policy.

Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported polling findings showing that nearly half of UK Muslims were unhappy with Sir Keir’s stance on the Middle Eastern conflict.

However, the survey by Savanta still found that 58 per cent of Muslims responding to the poll were planning to vote Labour at the next election, compared to 17 per cent who picked the Conservatives and 8 per cent who preferred the Liberal Democrats.