Labour Election Gains in UK Tempered by Gaza Protest Votes
- Starmer’s party loses control of council in northwest England
- Support slips in areas with big Muslim populations: pollster
Protests agaisnt Israel's attacks on Gaza, in Manchester.
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Labour’s strong performance in local elections across England and Wales was dented as voters in some areas with large Muslim populations appeared to withhold support over the opposition party’s stance on the war in Gaza.
Keir Starmer’s party notably lost control of the council in the Manchester suburb of Oldham — a traditionally Labour area where two of the party’s councilors quit last month to become independents, citing its Gaza policy. That undercut an otherwise impressive string of early results for Starmer, whose party won a vacant parliamentary seat in Blackpool South and took control of councils in Thurrock, Hartlepool and Rushmoor.