The Greens' Gaza stance won over Muslim voters – now they hope their progressive policies will keep them | Politics News

The Greens achieved very good results in the parliamentary elections and they know it.

In addition to the hemp tote bags and reusable water bottles, there was also a palpable new enthusiasm at their annual conference this weekend.

They made no secret of where some of their two million votes came from. A growing number of British Muslims voted for the Greens in this election, helping the party gain four new MPs. And this weekend it seemed they were looking to build on that support.

It was no secret even before the election that some British Muslims had begun to lose faith in the Labour Party because of its initial stance on the Israel-Gaza war.

This anti-Labour sentiment was further fuelled by the efficient organisation of campaign groups such as The Muslim Vote, which had launched a campaign to divert votes away from the major parties and towards candidates they believed would better serve the Muslim community.

Although there is great diversity among the Muslim electorate and the voting behaviour of different communities is highly complex, the most common factor that motivated voters to vote was undoubtedly the community's dismay at the Israeli bombing of Gaza.

The Greens watched from afar, only too happy to take Labour's place.

Shortly before the election, Sky polls found that there was a slight “Gaza effect,” with ethnic minority voters' satisfaction with their Conservative and Labour leaders dropping significantly after October 7. IPSOS suggested they would turn to smaller parties.

This was most evident on election night in Bristol Central, where the Greens won their biggest victory of the night.

Thangam Debbonaire, a major Labour figure and Shadow Minister for Culture, lost her seat in Bristol Central – home to a significant Somali community – to Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer.

Sir Keir Starmer even visited the constituency throughout the election, perhaps a sign that the party knew its campaign needed strong support.

While the Greens came in strong second and third places in constituencies around Sheffield Central and East London, the data showed they were in areas with high Muslim populations.

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This weekend, outside of the conference, the Greens visited a mosque in the conservative town of Altrincham to highlight their commitment to the community. The focus? Gaza.

In his speech, Zach Polanski, the Green Party's deputy leader, described the situation in Gaza as “genocide” – something Israel has repeatedly denied – and urged the Labour Party to halt arms sales to Israel altogether, rather than just suspending 30 of the 350 arms export licences it suspended earlier this week.

I asked Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay whether this was part of a strategic attempt to win more votes.

“I was keen to visit the mosque and engage with the Muslim community because we must remember how attacked and vulnerable our Muslim communities across the country have felt as a result of the horrific events and political violence over the summer,” he said.

“We must stand together, and we must also stand with our Jewish and Muslim communities who feel vulnerable because of events in the Middle East.”

Fesl Reza-Khan, a new party member who joined the party in November because of the party's stance on Gaza, co-founded a Muslim Green group to organize activists across the UK.

“Many of us are from ethnic minorities. My parents are from South Asia. When we see something, we react instinctively,” he said.

“And what I see in Gaza makes me think: 'Wait a minute, this happened to me, this happened to my ancestors, all this occupation, exploitation, colonization.'

“It was instinctive and no one involved acknowledged it. They actually manipulated me and told me, 'That's not happening, that's not what I see.'

“And I don’t need to be told what I see and observe.”

For many ethnic minorities, the Greens are not a natural home.

Of the hundreds of councillors the Greens were able to place in the last local elections, fewer than a dozen are from ethnic minorities. They know they are seen as “crusty old Greens”, as one insider told me.

They are seeking to modernise and capitalise on what they see as the hegemony of the major political parties. They believe this is a good start.

“All we needed was an attentive audience, just a door to open. Gaza was that decisive moment,” Reza-Khan said.

“Now that people are listening, they realise that the Greens are about much more than just Gaza. They are very, very well placed on so many issues, from families to cost of living to transport.”

The party hopes that despite the thousands of new members, some of them will remain loyal to the party and also support its position on other progressive issues. Most recently, for example, they prevailed against Labour on the issue of the cap on the two-child allowance and changes to the heating allowance in winter.

In the 2017 election, the Greens lost more than half their support as some of their voters turned to more radical policies under then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

And if the 2024 general election has taught us anything, it is that voters can be unreliable.

Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay hope their strong election result will provide a good foundation for longer-term support, starting with the communities they believe are least convinced by mainstream politics.