A poster reading "Vote Green Party" on the back of a chair

A major new survey has found that the Green Party is the most popular party in the UK among Muslim voters, as support for Labour has collapsed.

According to the survey from Muslim Census, 17 per cent of Muslims in the UK would vote Green if a general election were held tomorrow. That compares to 10 per cent who say they would vote Lib Dem, 5 per cent who say they would vote Labour and less than 1 per cent who say they would vote Tory. 40 per cent of respondents said they would not vote, with 21 per cent saying they would vote for an independent candidate.

This is a huge shift in voting intention. According to Muslim Census, 71 per cent of Muslims in the UK voted Labour in the 2019 general election, with just 2 per cent backing the Greens.

The data organisation suggests that if the results of the survey were repeated in a general election, Labour would stand to lose 1.5 million votes, and have branded the shift in voting intension a “watershed moment in British Muslim voting history”.

Muslim Census attributes this shift to the stance of the major parties on the ongoing situation in Gaza. The survey found that 98 per cent of British Muslims have a negative view of how Labour and the Tories have responded.

Tory leader and prime minister Rishi Sunak has given “unequivocal support” to Israel and in a visit to the country said: “We will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people. And we also want you to win”.

The Labour leader Keir Starmer, meanwhile has also faced extensive criticism for his position. Starmer has repeatedly said that Israel has a right to defend itself and that it must do so in line with international law. However, he has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire and has struggled to clarify comments he made following Israel’s initial announcement of a total siege on Gaza. In an interview with LBC, Starmer suggested Israel had the right to cut off water, electricity and fuel to Gaza, something he has later claimed not to have meant.

More than 20 councillors have resigned from the Labour Party over his position. More than 250 Muslim Labour councillors have written to Starmer demanding he call for an immediate ceasefire.

The Green Party of England and Wales has pushed for the UK government to call for an immediate ceasefire and has said that Israel’s siege on Gaza, along with the forced displacement of its population has been “in clear breach” of international law and the laws of war. The party has also said that the first step to delivering peace must be the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Speaking to Bright Green about the survey’s results, the Green Party’s co-leader Carla Denyer said: “It is no surprise to us that Muslim voters have felt taken for granted by Labour – this is what they had already been telling us on the doorstep in places like Bristol, Leeds and Newham. We have always sought for our policies to appeal to people across society and we are proud that the party is welcoming to people of all faiths.

“As Greens, we are confident that our commitment to equality and our vision for a fairer, greener Britain will appeal to more and more people as we approach the next General Election.”

More than 30,000 British Muslims responded to the Muslim Census survey. The survey is not a representative poll.

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Image credit: Jon Craig – Creative Commons