Labour’s Gaza backlash: Sir Keir Starmer admits Israel-Palestine conflict was a ‘very strong factor’ in party losing control of Oldham Council as Muslim voters accuse him of taking too long to call for ceasefire

Labour has today sensationally lost control of Oldham Council after Muslim voters punished the party over Gaza.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party has lost power in the town in Greater Manchester – and outgoing councillors say the leader’s face has been plastered on leaflets of independents who took their seats.

Speaking today Sir Keir was asked whether his stance on Gaza had been a factor in Oldham. He told the BBC: ‘There are some places where it’s a very strong factor… I respect that’.

Despite gains all over England from the Tories in yesterday’s local elections, Labour lost control of Oldham after gains by Independents.

The party’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden has admitted the crisis in Gaza has been an ‘issue’ on the doorstep and ‘does get raised’ when asked about Labour’s poor showing in Oldham.

Polling guru John Curtice said there is a trend of the Labour vote falling in areas with high Muslim populations.

One Labour Councillor in the own who lost their seat told the BBC: ‘The main reason for this is Gaza and anger that the Labour Party took too long to call for a ceasefire’ .

Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer’s face and quotes about Gaza has been on opposition leaflets

Labour is still the largest party on 27 seats – but have lost control because there are now 16 independents as well as nine Lib Dems and eight Tory councillors.

Retiring Labour councillor Paul Fryer said last night: ‘Labour have been in power in Oldham for 13 years, perhaps people are a bit tired of Labour. In some parts of the borough it’s the Gaza issue that may lose them the seat’.

Pat McFadden has admitted the crisis in Gaza has been an ‘issue’ and ‘does get raised’ when asked about Labour’s loss of control in Oldham.

The party’s national campaign coordinator told BBC Breakfast: ‘I do think that’s been a factor in some places, I don’t think there’s any point in denying that. It does get raised, and I understand why people have strong feelings about that.’

He said that with ‘so many innocent people being killed I’m not surprised people have strong feelings about that’.

But Mr McFadden added: ‘In addition to the Middle East issue which you mentioned there are specific very local factors in Oldham which have knocked it out of line with the Labour gains we’ve been seeing in local elections.’

Oldham’s Labour council leader Arooj Shah has denied the party’s loss of control was because of the Gaza crisis, blaming the Tories in Westminster for ’13 years of austerity’.

But elections expert Rob Ford said last night that it appeared that Labour was ‘struggling’ in councils with above-average Muslim voter numbers because of the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Arooj Shah told BBC Radio 4’s Today there had been ‘divisive, toxic politics’ in Oldham for the last five years, predating the war in the Middle East.

Asked whether the loss was linked to Sir Keir Starmer’s position on the conflict, Ms Shah said: ‘I don’t think that’s a fair statement to make, given that the issue of Gaza has been over the last year but what we’ve seen in Oldham is a lot longer than that… what we have had is 13 years of austerity and that’s been really, really difficult.’

She added: ‘We’ve always had to deal with the hand that we’ve been dealt.’

When it was put to her that it was not the fault of the Tories in Westminster, she replied: ‘Well, actually it is.’

Rishi Sunak (pictured canvassing in Chelsea with wife Akshata Murty yesterday) is bracing for a dire set of results from the local elections 

Away from Oldham, Labour has had a good night.

Rishi Sunak was given a battering from voters after the Tories were put to the sword in the Blackpool South by-election – and suffered a swathe of early council losses.

The PM is hunkering down for a grim day as results continue to flow in, with the most striking so far Keir Starmer seizing the Lancashire seat. 

Chris Webb secured a massive 26 per cent swing to become the newest MP in the Commons – and in a particularly alarming sign the Conservative candidate barely managed to push Reform into third place, by just 117 votes.

It is the seventh parliamentary seat the Tories have lost in a by-election since Mr Sunak became PM in October 2022, six of which have now been won by Labour – underlining that Sir Keir looks to be on track for Downing Street.

As English councils started to declare, Labour also claimed a ‘truly historic result’ to take Rushmoor – the home of the British Army – from the Tories and end nearly a quarter-of-a century of Conservative control.

Sir Keir also saw wins in Hartlepool and made other gains in key general election battlegrounds Thurrock and Redditch as they enjoyed early success.

The Tories lost control of North East Lincolnshire as Mr Sunak witnessed a dire set of results begin to unfold.

In one bright spot, the party has managed to hold on to control of Harlow – which local MP Robert Halfon described as ‘the biggest comeback since Lazarus’. 

Labour also suffered woes of their own in Oldham, where the party lost overall control after independents picked up seats in an apparent backlash over the Gaza war.  

However, polling guru Professor John Curtice said the Tories could be on track to lose 500 councillors – the worst showing for 40 years – and critics are already stepping up calls for Mr Sunak to go.