” To imagine politics not as a means of effecting social change in more universalist terms, but as a process bound by the limits of identity, is deeply corrosive”. Kenan Malick.
Horrified by Israel relentless obliteration of Gaza in retaliation to the 7th October 2023 Hamas-led Nova Music festival massacre, a number of British Muslims have since switched their allegiance from Labour to the Green Party.
Having joined the Party in 2022, community activist Mothin Ali was elected in May 2024 for the Gipton and Harehills ward in Leeds after winning more than 3,000 votes. In his famous election speech, he declared that his success was a “win for the people of Gaza” and that he would not be silenced. A small number of Green Party candidates of the Muslim faith were also elected on that day in Newcastle, Hyndburn and Bolton.
Harnessing votes from Bristol Central Somalian community, the Muslim vote is believed to have contributed to co-leader Carla Denyer winning her seat at the 2024 General Election. The Muslim vote from Huddersfield, Sheffield Central and Poplar and Limehouse in East London may also appear to explain how Green Party candidates – Andrew Cooper, Angela Argenzion and Nathalie Bienfait – came second.
True to his pledge as a member of the ‘Greens For Palestine’ group and sponsored by the newly created internal Muslim Greens Special Interest group, Councillor Mothin Ali proposed an emergency motion at the 2024 Green Party Conference in Manchester which labelled the Israeli government’s conduct in the Gaza war as apartheid and genocide. The motion also confirmed the Party’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
With a net gain of 43 seats at the May 2025 County Council elections, Greens gained 24 seats from the Conservatives, and 17 from Labour. Whilst the chance of success in this latest election was limited due to being held for conservative County Councils, the breakthroughs came from Leicestershire where 23.5% of its population are of the Muslim faith as well as from Staffordshire and Cambridgeshire.
The real question for the Green Party now is whether its electoral success amongst British Muslims will hold beyond the Palestinian humanitarian tragedy and Hamas’ defeat.
Part of the problem with Muslim Greens as an identity group is also that their conception of belonging is based on a faith which some of their active members may consider to have remained fixed throughout its history – thus not dissimilar to Saudi Arabia and Iran Islamism. In the medium to long term, such world view will be incompatible with the Green Party’s science-based, rationalist foundations and liberal values.
However, Islam is also an extremely diverse religion with evolving beliefs and values. Some younger muslims have indeed moved on and accept that women, homosexuals and transgender people have rights which must be protected.
Generally made very welcome by Local Party members and the Leadership Team, one can only hope that by distancing themselves from the sectarian barriers erected by identity politics zealots, Muslim Greens’ active contribution to a return to the Party’s ecological and liberal values could be pivotal.
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