In the UK, Muslim votes are treated as a problem to be managed

Britain’s politics is in turmoil. The Labour government is consumed by an open leadership crisis, with the Prime Minister facing demands from more than ninety of his own MPs to resign and a likely challenge from within his own cabinet. All of this was triggered by Labour’s hammering in the local and devolved elections of May 7.

Westminster is absorbed in the spectacle, and understandably so. But for British Muslim communities, the lasting significance of those elections lies elsewhere. The May vote brought a real surge in Muslim civic engagement, with initiatives like the Muslim Council of Britain’s “Get Out The Vote” campaign helping to drive registration and turnout. Yet that engagement was too often met with suspicion rather than welcome.

During the campaign, too many political actors and media outlets fell back on lazy, divisive narratives about Muslims, spreading misinformation and misrepresenting how our communities actually engage politically. Commentators repeatedly raised the spectre of “family voting”, claiming that Muslims, particularly Muslim women, were pushed or directed to vote in certain ways, as though they had no agency of their own. Others spoke of “sectarian voting,” portraying Muslims as a single bloc voting on the basis of religion alone, rather than as a diverse community with a multiplicity of political views. These terms were used to cast suspicion on Muslim voters, particularly in areas where Muslim electoral participation is more visible.

Reform UK, which campaigned heavily on an anti-immigration platform, made significant gains in local council elections in England, largely at the expense of both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, the two dominant forces in British politics for over a century. In the devolved elections, Labour’s vote also declined, but the picture was more complex. In Wales, Plaid Cymru emerged as the largest party for the first time since devolution, with Reform UK Wales finishing a strong second. In Scotland, the SNP remained the largest party but lost seats, while the Greens had their best-ever result and Reform UK won its first MSPs. Voters in different parts of the UK clearly reached for different alternatives.

Frustration with the mainstream parties accounts for some of Reform’s success, but the party also gained substantial support for its hardline positions. These include proposals for large-scale immigration detention centres capable of holding tens of thousands of people, the abolition of “indefinite leave to remain”, and a combative framing of integration and national identity.

Elements of Reform’s rhetoric have at times overlapped with anti-Muslim and Islamophobic narratives also promoted by more extreme figures such as Tommy Robinson and Rupert Lowe, the MP who leads the far-right populist Restore Britain party. This rhetoric has included stoking fear around “political Islam,” calling for mass deportations, and advancing a more restrictive vision of British cultural identity. Such language grew louder over the course of the campaign, with some supporters and individual Reform candidates posting content on social media that was openly Islamophobic, racist or anti-Semitic. Phil Tierney, elected for Chelmsley Wood in Solihull and pictured with Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice during the campaign, had publicly posted, “I am Islamophobic” on X, called Islam a “plague,” and shared material arguing that no Muslim should be allowed to hold public office. Ben Rowe, elected in Plymouth, was reported to have urged an anti-Muslim mob during the 2024 Southport riots to “get rid of that filthy building” as they threw bricks at police protecting a mosque. While such posts do not always reflect official Reform party policy, they contribute to a wider environment in which such rhetoric is highly visible and normalised.

Muslims, like anyone else, are not a monolith. We vote on a wide range of issues shaped by personal experience, local priorities, and wider concerns. Housing, the cost of living, education, safety, local services, and infrastructure matter to us just as they do to everyone else. And on national and international issues, including humanitarian crises, the genocide in Gaza, and human rights, we stand alongside neighbours of all faiths and none.

For British Muslims, as with all communities, taking part in the democratic process is essential to ensuring fair representation and a meaningful voice in public life. We are a diverse community, and people will rightly vote for different parties and candidates. Recent shifts in voting patterns, away from traditional support for Labour and towards the Greens and independents in particular, show clearly that no community’s support can be taken for granted. When voters feel overlooked or dismissed, they will look elsewhere. Representation has to be earned through genuine engagement, respect, and accountability, not historical expectations.

What concerns us most is not any single party or politician, but the speed at which the Overton window has shifted. Calls for the mass deportation of Muslims, for increased securitisation of our communities, and for limitations on our freedom of expression and protest were once confined to the political fringe. They are now made openly, by elected representatives, and meet silence rather than condemnation from much of the mainstream. As that fringe becomes mainstream, other parties feel pressure to move with it, and the space for a confident, plural British politics narrows.

Countering this requires more than calling it out. It means building confidence, strengthening civic literacy, and making sure people feel empowered rather than alienated. The more we engage politically and constructively, contacting our local councillors and MPs, responding to consultations, attending community meetings, and working with others on shared local issues, the less our communities can be sidelined, spoken for or spoken over.

There is also space for optimism. Across the country, messages rooted in hope, fairness, accountability, and community-focused politics resonated strongly. Many voters backed candidates who centred humanitarian and ethical concerns and worked to build unity across our diverse communities rather than exploit division. Independent councillor Mansoor Ahmed, one of the youngest councillors elected, stood in the highly diverse ward of Nechells in Birmingham on a locally rooted, community-focused platform, reflecting concerns about housing, local services, youth provision, and representation rather than national identity politics. That appetite for constructive change is something to build on.

The political landscape has shifted, but nothing is set in stone. Both the Conservatives and Labour may yet recover, and the Liberal Democrats also made gains in several areas, a reminder of how fluid and competitive British politics remains. A future Reform-led government, or even a Reform prime minister, is possible, but it is far from guaranteed. Political momentum can shift quickly, and the UK’s electoral system means translating local gains into national power remains a significant challenge for any party.

With the next Westminster general election to be held by August 15, 2029, we cannot afford to be complacent. We need to be more organised, more informed, and more ready than ever. That means making sure everyone in our communities, especially young people and first-time voters, is registered to vote, knows where and when to cast their ballot, and understands what each party is offering them. It means challenging misinformation when we see it, in our WhatsApp groups and our local press as much as in the national media. It means working with neighbours of all faiths and none on the issues we share. And it means refusing to let those who would reduce Muslim political engagement to a culture war define the terms of our participation. That participation is, and always has been, a legitimate expression of democratic responsibility and civic duty.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.