UK’s Labour, Tories should face consequences for stance on Gaza, Arab voters say

Almost all Arab voters believe the Conservatives and Labour should face consequences for their stance on the war on Gaza, a survey from the Arab Voice Campaign has found.

Asked if they “believe that the Conservatives and Labour should face consequences for their stance on the war on Gaza”, 92 per cent of respondents said yes.

Of the 539 people surveyed, the majority said they follow their representative’s position on key issues, with 75 per cent knowing how their member of parliament voted on the Gaza ceasefire in November 2023.

Almost 67 per cent said they believe the Arab and Muslim vote was important and influential, just under 23 per cent said it had limited influence and almost four per cent said it is not important or influential at all.

Asked who they plan to vote for, almost 20 per cent said they were undecided on 24 June, when the survey was carried out. Only one per cent said they’d vote for the Conservative and Reform, while 12 per cent said Labour would get their vote.

The party that received the largest backing from respondents was George Galloway’s Workers Party, with 38 per cent of those contacted by the Arab Voice Campaign saying they planned to back them in the 4 July ballot.

The general election was called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 22 May and it is widely expected that his Conservative Party will suffer a resounding defeat in favour of the Labour Party. However many younger voters have called for electoral reforms as the UK’s first past the post voting system means smaller parties are unlikely to get significant seats in parliament even if they receive a large percentage of votes.

Read: From Labour leader to independent, Jeremy Corbyn vows to work in the UK and Europe for a ceasefire in Gaza