After ousting former party leader Jeremy Corbyn and preventing him from running in his long-held constituency on a Labour ticket, Keir Starmer and other Labour Party
leaders have begun to target other members.
One notable case is that of Faiza Shaheen, ousted on May 29, who nearly unseated the Tory representative in her
constituency in 2019. Since then, Shaheen has continued to engage with the community, canvassing with her baby,
determined to achieve a victory this time around. She had publicly announced her readiness to begin the official
campaign, only to be shocked by the party’s decision to replace her with a candidate with no community ties.
Shaheen is not the only Muslim candidate to be threatened by Labour’s selection process. It is anticipated that Apsana
Begum, a member of Parliament, might be dropped after Zionist media published calls for her deselection. Begum has experienced Islamophobia in her political career and has warned about the toll a lengthy
court process had taken on her health, with Labour providing her with no support at the time. She has also expressed solidarity with Palestine on a number of occasions.
Starmer has also warmly welcomed former Tory members who switched camps ahead of the election. This treatment was not extended to Labour members with a track record of fighting for social
justice. Diane Abbott, the country’s first Black woman MP, is still awaiting confirmation on whether she will be allowed to run as a party
candidate.