Sarah Menaï (UK correspondent)
The war in Gaza has come to the table in the British municipal elections. In the United Kingdom, millions of English people voted at the end of the week to elect their mayors and municipal councilors. But in many cities, the situation in Gaza interfered in the debates, sometimes shaking up the political scene, as in Bradford, where Europe 1 visited.
When the conflict in Gaza comes to the voting booth. This weekend in the United Kingdom, millions of British people were called to the polls to elect their mayors and municipal councilors. But in Bradford, in the north of England, and like many cities, the situation in the Middle East has shaken up the political scene. Although the mayor’s office was retained by the Labor Party, independent candidates who campaigned around Gaza experienced a breakthrough. Independents in Bradford now have the same number of seats as Conservative Party MPs.
Test for general elections
Welcomed by a crowd of supporters on the town hall square, these independent candidates who campaigned for aid to Gaza have just won their seats as municipal councilors in Bradford. Also in Leeds for example, it was with these words that the Green candidate celebrated his victory on Saturday: “This is a victory for the inhabitants of Gaza. We will not remain silent. We will make the voice of Palestine heard. God is big,” he exclaimed.
Dissatisfied with the inaction, according to them, of the conservative government and the Labor opposition regarding the fate of the Palestinians in Gaza, many of them, according to political observers, voted in this direction. “We are witnessing a brutal reaction from the Muslim electorate on the Palestinian question. Muslim voters are mostly voting for the Labor Party. But will their mobilization have an impact on the next elections?” asks one of them at the microphone of Europe 1.
The vote, although local, constituted this weekend a major test for Rishi Sunak and for his main opponent, Keir Starmer, since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should also be invited to the table of the general elections which must take place at the ‘autumn.