An unprecedented number .. a greater presence of Muslim representatives in the British Parliament

Al Jazeera Net - London

The results of the recent British elections carried good news for Muslims in the country, as they achieved a historic achievement by increasing the number of seats occupied by Muslim deputies in Parliament to 18 seats, an increase of three seats over the 2017 elections.

70 Muslims contested the election battle, compared to only 44 deputies in the 2017 elections, which helped increase their share of parliamentary seats.

Expectations were that Muslims could win 22 seats, but the great loss suffered by the Labor Party prevented this.

The Labor Party granted sponsorship to 33 representatives of Muslim origin to stand for election, and workers entered the elections with expectations that 16 of the seats granted to Muslim candidates are seats discounted in its favor.

On the other hand, the Conservative Party increased the number of its Muslim candidates to 22 candidates, and, unlike the workers, the seats that were deemed semi-settled for the Conservatives did not exceed five seats.

As for the Liberal Democratic Party, which had not previously presented any Muslim candidate in the last elections, it gave approval to 17 Muslim candidates to compete for seats in Parliament, but the party's disastrous results in these elections prevented any of them from winning.

The Labor Party will be represented in Parliament by 14 Muslim deputies, including three new deputies, while the representation of Muslim deputies in the ranks of the Conservative Party within Parliament will be limited to four seats, with one seat increase.

Between London and Birmingham
And it appears through the list of regions that were won by candidates of Muslim origin, that they are mainly concentrated in the British capital London and the city of Birmingham, which is known for the density of Muslims in it, and applies to both parties: workers or conservatives.

In the Ealing area, west of the capital, London, Labor candidates achieved an overwhelming majority given the large presence of Arab and Muslim British voters, and in the city of Birmingham, voters gave four seats to Muslim candidates.

In terms of origins, it was found that about two thirds of the Muslim deputies in the British Parliament are of Pakistani origin, followed by deputies of Bengali origin, and one deputy of Iranian and other Kurdish descent, and no presence of a representative of Arab origin was recorded.

The increase in the number of Muslim deputies in Parliament is a natural development given the increasing number of British Muslims, who, according to some estimates, have reached three million, a third of them (one million people) have the right to vote out of 46 million British voters, knowing that the total number of participants in the last elections was 31.9 Two million.

Encouraging results
The Arab academic described Kamel Hawash to increase the representation of Muslims as "positive and encouraging", explaining this result by opening up British parties to "increase the representation of minorities, including the Muslim minority."

The University of Birmingham professor considered that the Labor Party was keen to distribute Muslim representatives in areas where their chances are strong for success, and this, in his opinion, indicates that "the British voter broke the psychological barrier from being represented by a Muslim deputy in addition to the fact that voters vote for the party more than one person" .

Hawash - who is a member of the Labor Party for the Arab group - indicated that the increase in the number of Muslim deputies will ultimately lead to a rise in the number of votes defending Muslim issues, stressing at the same time that the role of the parliamentarian is not limited to raising issues that raise Muslim fears, but rather must To focus his attention on the problems of the region to which he belongs.

And the speaker does not miss the opportunity without reminding Muslims in Britain of the need for political participation, "These results are the best evidence that the increase in participation leads to an increase in representation, and this will lead to a rise in the influence of British official policies."