LONDON: The war in Gaza is a significant driving force behind progressive voters abandoning the UK’s governing Labour Party, a new poll has found.
More than half of voters who abandoned Labour for other center and center-left parties did so because of the government’s response to the war.
The poll was commissioned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Conducted by Opinium, the survey found that 21 percent of respondents cited the war as a major factor in their decision to switch party. Another 31 percent said Gaza “factored in to some extent” in their decision.
Peter Leary, PSC’s deputy director, said: “The public is rightly horrified by the government’s support for Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinian people.
“This poll confirms that Palestine was on the ballot for millions of progressive voters during last month’s elections.
“Parties that supported the call for meaningful action — including a full arms embargo and wide-ranging sanctions against Israel — were heavily rewarded.”
Former Labour voters have switched to the Green Party, Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats and independent candidates. Of the respondents, Green Party voters were most likely to cite Gaza as a factor (67 percent).
After last month’s local elections, which saw Labour lose 54 percent of its 2024 general election voters, a YouGov poll found that 80 percent of former Labour voters switched to these center and center-left parties, rather than to right-wing parties.
Leary said: “If any new Labour leader hopes to win back these lost voters, they must urgently break with (Prime Minister) Keir Starmer’s shameful complicity in Israel’s genocide and other grave violations of international law.”
Progressive voters who switched from Labour overwhelmingly believe that the government should take harsher action against Israel, the poll found.
Eighty-two percent of respondents, citing the need to prevent genocide, support the UK government imposing sanctions on Israel. Just 5 percent are opposed to such a move.
A further 80 percent support a ban on all arms sales to Israel, while 75 percent support a ban on UK trade linked to Israel’s illegal occupation.
Furthermore, 85 percent of those who cited Gaza as a reason for switching party said their opinion of Labour would improve if the party’s next leader were to pursue tougher policies toward Israel.
Finnian Murtagh, international campaigner at Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: “The occupation of Palestine, including the genocide in Gaza, is one of the foremost issues of humanitarian crisis and environmental injustice in the world today.
“It’s no surprise that people in the UK want to see an end to the occupation and the brutal suppression of Palestinian lives and livelihoods.
“Voters want political parties — and a government — willing to stand up for Palestinians, protect lives and end decades of devastating environmental abuses.
“This polling sets a clear path for how Labour can uphold international law and it must start with issuing a full arms embargo on Israel.”
