Keir Starmer’s Labour supports Israel, but it seems Labour voters do not.
Since the October 7th Hamas attacks, Labour has consistently been the mainstream political party whose voters are most likely to sympathise with the Palestinian side, compared to both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, according to polling data collected by YouGov.
However, two weeks after the attacks, Starmer made a statement to the House of Commons on the issue in which he said: “And in the light of (Hamas’) barbarism, Israel has the right to defend herself.”
For the past seven years, at least, primarily under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, Labour have offered the voting public a place to support Palestinians, but now a disparity emerges.
Adult nurse Elliot Raab, 27, voted Labour in the last general election, after years of not voting.
He said: “I used to be more of an anarchist and didn’t vote. I think because I just had no faith in any of the leaders – it wasn’t because I didn’t care about how things were run.
“It felt like too long not using my voice, so I started voting and I’m glad I did.
“But I don’t know if I could vote Labour again. It just feels like they’ve had a massive shift and their values aren’t staying consistent.
“I definitely disagree with Keir Starmer, and it seems like politicians in his own party disagree too.”
When asked ‘Which side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict do you sympathise with more?’ Labour voters were far more likely than their political counterparts to support Palestine.
However, the Lib Dems’ Palestine support has been steadily increasing since October, with just a four point percentage difference between the parties earlier this month.
Conversely, Conservative voters are significantly less likely to support Palestine, but are three times more likely than Labour to support Israel.
Londoners, compared to the rest of the UK, have been most likely to support Palestine both at the beginning of October and now, with numbers increasing by almost 80% in that time.
Despite the differences in Labour and Conservative voters’ sympathies, there has not been that disparity in their leaders’ positions.
In early 2024, Starmer officially separated from the Labour Party’s previous position, declaring that the party would only recognise Palestine as part of a two-state solution with Israel.
This marked a decisive step away from the Labour Party’s manifestos in both 2017 and 2019, the latter of which read simply: “A Labour government will immediately recognise the state of Palestine.”
There is speculation that Starmer is trying to replenish the optics of the Labour party, and garner support from the British Jewish community by separating from the accusations of anti-semitism made against the party in the Corbyn era.
But this U-turn undoubtedly represents a division between voter and party leader.
One group specifically that Labour risks angering is the British Muslim community.
According to an October 2023 survey by Muslim Census that analysed 30,000 responses from Muslims, 71% voted Labour in the 2019 election, and just 5% said they would vote for Labour should an election be held, marking a 66% drop.
Taslima, 37, a Brixton-based Labour voter in 2019, said: “I’m not religious myself, but I had a Muslim upbringing, and it’s sad to see Labour move away from supporting Palestine and its people.
“It’s actually more than sad. It makes me so angry and I know it makes others within the community angry too.
“This is a cause that’s important to us – because we have family or friends connected to the issue, or because we have been on the side of Palestine for a long time.
“We see what’s happening in Palestine, and we see Labour’s standing by and doing nothing, and it makes you think: ‘this isn’t what I signed up for’.”
Labour already saw widely protest votes from Muslim groups affect this month’s local elections and with a general election now set for 4 July, it’s an issue Labour needs to address.
