V At first glance, the Gaza war has little to do with dustbin collection times.
But Israel’s war against Hamas – and the Palestinian cause more widely – is likely going to be used as a wedge issue to attack Labour in town halls in the months and years ahead, as the battleground moves from the national elections to local councils.
The biggest shock of election night on July 4 was not the success of Nigel Farage and Reform UK, but the unexpected victory of five independent candidates who placed opposition to the war in Gaza at the heart of their campaigns.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s former shadow paymaster general who was unseated by a pro-Gaza candidate in a shock result, told LBC: “I have never known a campaign of such vitriol, such bullying, such intimidation built on the foul obnoxious lie that I was responsible for genocide. That I had the blood of Gazan children on my hands.
“A campaign was organised nationally by a national organisation called The Muslim Vote, whose [message] was clear on their website: ‘punish MPs’.”
In the aftermath of the vote, the organisation vowed that its shock success was only the beginning.
It has not explicitly stated that it plans to infiltrate local government to campaign against Isreal. But such attempts have been made in the past.
The previous government’s so-called anti-BDS bill (which did not progress through parliament before the last election) was partially aimed at stopping such efforts.
Since October 7, increasing numbers of parties and independents have been attempting to use Gaza for their own political ends on a local level, with varying degrees of success.
The first major test of Labour’s campaign machine could come in greater London.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting came within a whisker of losing his Ilford North seat to independent Leanne Mohammed. Redbridge, a local council in the same constituency, has since seen the rise of the “Redbridge Community Action Group”, set up in the aftermath of October 7 to oppose Labour over Gaza. Their first outing may come soon, with two council by-elections in the pipeline.
In London, a group of councillors registered “Newham Independents” as a party in June and have campaigned about the issue of Gaza prominently, with their eyes on the 2026 local election.
Then there’s the Greens. In the north London Borough of Harringay, a Green Party council candidate in its Hornsey ward was pictured wearing a keffiyeh in a leaflet carrying the slogan, “Vote Green, for the climate, for Gaza.” She was defeated by Labour in July. Greens in Bournemouth have also attempted to de-twin the town from Netanya in Israel.
Despite their landslide victory across the country on July 4, Labour is clearly vulnerable, particularly in areas with a sizeable Muslim population.
Independents will likely try to emulate the successes of The Muslim Vote to unseat Labour councillors in council chambers when the opportunity arises.
Although local elections are not scheduled in London and Birmingham until 2026, this is not something Labour can afford to ignore. While the party enjoyes control in Westminster for the first time in 14 years, failure to recognise the threat could cost it town halls across the country.
