While Starmer has sought to distance the Labour Party from the “Kashmir” issue and rebuild ties with British Indian voters, the only gain the Conservative Party made in its disastrous general election showing in July — under the UK’s first Hindu prime minister Rishi Sunak — was in Leicester East. A constituency which Labour had held since 1987, Leicester East elected Gujarati Hindu-origin Tory candidate Shivani Raja to Parliament. The seat incorporates the area of Belgrave, with nearly three in four residents in Belgrave South being Hindu. On Leicester City Council, Belgrave is represented by three Conservative Hindu councillors: Shital Adatia, Yogesh Chauhan, and Jaiantilal Gopal. Nationally, the demographic where the Tories lost the least support in the July election was British Asians, particularly Hindus.

While the Tories suffered a series of general election losses in the capital, Bob Blackman’s hold on Harrow East remained steady, winning 53.1% of the votes cast in a constituency where Indian-origin Hindus are a critically important voter group. In fact, Blackman — who has previously expressed support for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and who took his oath in Parliament on the Bhagavad Gita as well as the King James Bible — increased his majority over Labour from 8,170 to 11,680 votes.

It is worth noting that during the 2022 English local elections the London borough of Harrow bucked the general national trend, with the Tories gaining control of the council from Labour — and eight councillors at the expense of Starmer’s party. While much of England has deserted the Tories in recent national and local elections, that has certainly not been the case in the Hindu-concentrated areas of London and Leicester.

While Starmer will hope to turn the tide, the Diwali blunder at Number 10 is symbolic of Labour’s growing disconnect with British Hindus, who in 2021 hit the one-million mark for the first time in the England and Wales census. It also exposes the often superficial nature of “pro-diversity” politics and so-called “minority outreach”, much of which is anything but thoughtful about the community in question. Any “faith and culture” adviser with a reasonable understanding of British Hindu practices, customs, and norms would know that serving meat — especially beef — would be hugely undesirable at a Diwali celebration. And while there are British Hindus who drink alcohol, many would not be in the business of serving and consuming alcoholic beverages at religious events associated with Diwali.

All the while, it is no surprise who has been arguably the most vocal MP in calling out Downing Street over its Diwali gaffe: the Conservative MP for Leicester East, Shivani Raja.

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Dr Rakib Ehsan is a researcher specialising in British ethnic minority socio-political attitudes, with a particular focus on the effects of social integration and intergroup relations.

 

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