A new poll suggests that Labour is losing significant support among British Muslims as Keir Starmer prepares for an expected general election later this year amid criticism over the party’s handling of the Gaza war.

Data curated by Survation, commissioned by the Labour Muslim Network (LMN), showed that 60 percent of British Muslims polled who expressed a preference for a party said they would vote Labour.

Survation said this represented a 26 percent drop in support since the last election in 2019 when 86 percent of Muslims previously polled by the company said they had voted Labour.

A spokesperson for LMN said the poll showed that the Labour Party risks losing a “generation” of potential new voters if its leadership does not change tact over the situation in Gaza.

“These findings come in the context of over 100 days of Israel’s continuous assault on Gaza. Over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 10,000 of whom are children, and the Labour Party’s response has been unacceptable and deeply offensive to Muslims across Britain,” said the LMN spokesperson.

“Muslim voters have been watching and are now sending a clear message – they will not support any political party that does not fervently oppose the crimes committed against the people of Gaza.”

‘Muslim voters … will not support any political party that does not fervently oppose the crimes committed against the people of Gaza’

– Labour Muslim Network spokesperson

Last year, Starmer defended Israel’s decision to shut off water and electricity to Gaza after Hamas launched an assault into southern Israel.

Starmer has since rowed back on these comments but still not called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza – instead supporting the British government’s call for steps towards a “sustainable ceasefire”.

Long considered the traditional political home for the UK’s Muslim community, Labour is facing growing pressure to mend its relationship with British Muslims.

Among issues that Muslim voters in the survey said would affect their vote, the Israel-Gaza war ranked fourth after the cost of living, the economy and the NHS.

Last week, the Guardian revealed that the Labour Party had been running internal polls and focus groups to figure out how to win back Muslim voters.

Contributing to Labour’s fears is a grassroots group called The Muslim Vote (TMV), which has been endorsed by a number of organisations including the Muslim Association of Britain, the Muslim Council of Scotland, and Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) – and other Muslim civil society groups.

TMV says it has “thousands” of volunteers ready to support independent local political campaigns in constituencies which have a significant Muslim electorate and members of parliament who failed to vote for a ceasefire.

Last week, a spokesperson for TMV told Middle East Eye that in constituencies where it thinks it has an audience and “an independent approach makes sense”, it will support independent candidates “with tech resources, networks, advice and data, as well as volunteers and help with funding”.

Labour has faced heavy criticism over the leadership’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Resignations of Labour councillors in late October after Starmer said Israel “had the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza were reportedly dismissed by a senior Labour source as the party “shaking off the fleas”.

More than 50 Labour councillors have since resigned citing the party’s approach to the war in areas including Oxford, Burnley, Hastings and Norwich.