- Monday, February 24, 2025
The party led by Keir Starmer has roped in two community outreach volunteers, trying to revive the Labour Friends of India group and hosting India trips for two of its senior shadow ministers.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Labour Party is aiming to better its outreach to British Indians amid concerns that its support among the country’s biggest ethnic minority has gone down in recent years.
The party, which is eyeing a return to power in the next general elections, has taken a series of measures to reconnect with British Indians, which include roping in two community outreach volunteers, reviving the Labour Friends of India group and hosting trips to India for two of its senior shadow ministers.
Statistics show that the support for the Labour Party among people of Indian descent has dropped. While 61 per cent of British Indians said they backed the Labour, a survey accessed by The Guardian shows that the support has slumped to just 30 per cent.
One official of the party led by Keir Starmer said the Labour took the Indian voters for granted for a long time and it is high time that it does something to stop them from “going elsewhere”, The Guardian reported.
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“Keir Starmer’s changed Labour party is back in the service of working people and continues to engage with people of all background and faiths – including our Indian communities,” a Labour spokesperson was quoted by the news outlet as saying.
The measures undertaken by the supporters of the party to reach out to the British Indians include forming a new group by the name of Labour Indians to stage community events and target messages to the ethnic group on social media platforms.
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Krish Raval, chair of the group, said as a dynamic initiative focusing on canvassing, event coordination, and social media outreach, their aim is to engage a broad spectrum of stakeholders to secure a triumph for the Labour.
Two dedicated volunteers have joined the team, tasked with briefing Labour parliamentary candidates on key Indian-related matters.
On Sunday (4), shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will embark on a five-day journey to Delhi and Mumbai — India’s political and financial capitals, respectively. The trip aims to underscore the party’s openness to Indian interests and dispel any notion of hostility.
Indians are the second-largest immigrant group in the UK, and the biggest minority-ethnic group.
Over the years, the Labour enjoyed significant support from British Indians, consistent with other minority-ethnic communities.
However, recent years have witnessed a sharp decline in this support. According to a new survey by the think tank UK in a Changing Europe, in 2019, only 30 per cent of British Indians voted for Labour, not too many compared to the 24 per cent who backed the Conservative Party.
Experts attribute this shift to a blend of socioeconomic and religious factors. As British Indians have seen improved economic fortunes, their attitudes have tended towards conservatism. Additionally, the ascent of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India has fostered a more assertive conservative sentiment among Indians in the UK.
Survey data from the UK in a Changing Europe underscores that a majority of Hindu voters in the 2019 election favoured the Conservative Party, a trend not mirrored among Muslim, Sikh, or Buddhist voters.
These long-standing patterns were further exacerbated by Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour, notably due to his stance on an independent Kashmir—a viewpoint widely unpopular among Indian Hindus. In 2019, activists aligned with the BJP actively campaigned for the Tories in over 40 constituencies across the UK, sparking allegations of interference by the Indian government in British democratic processes.
Senior figures within the Labour Party express concerns that the potential rise of Rishi Sunak as Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister could perpetuate this trend.
According to one, Sunak’s position symbolises a shift in fortunes for British Indians, indicating a changing landscape. Another individual lauded the prime minister saying it was impressive how he has been integrating the Indian community into the customs of 10 Downing Street.
