The 14-year reign of the Conservative Party has ended

Writer:.... Ishtiaq bag

          British elections are always a source of interest for Pakistanis due to the large number of Pakistanis living in the UK and the participation of Pakistani-origin candidates in British elections. In the recent British election, issues such as the economy, inflation, immigration, the NHS and the environment dominated the campaign. Even before the election, the victory of the Labor Party was predicted in various exit polls, which proved to be correct and the Labor Party came to power after 14 years with a huge majority. According to the election results, the Labor Party won 412 seats, the Conservatives won 121 seats and the Liberal Democrats won 72 seats. The issue of Gaza was the most important in many constituencies in the British election where the votes cast also affected the results of the parties and the candidates supported by Israel suffered the worst defeat. 15 British-born Pakistanis and 5 pro-Palestine independent candidates won the elections and became members of the British Parliament.

        Britain's Labor Party is considered the party of Pakistanis and Muslims. Labor Party policies have always been supportive of Muslim immigrants living in Britain. This party has the honor of giving party tickets to Muslims of Pakistani origin to contest elections and for the first time in the history of Britain, an Asian and Muslim of Pakistani origin, Muhammad Sarwar, who took oath on the Holy Quran, was successful. Similarly, during the reign of the Labor Party, a Pakistani-origin Shahid Malik was made a minister for the first time in Britain, while the Labor Party itself elected a Pakistani-origin Lord Nazir as a member of the House of Lords. Islam is the second largest religion in the UK. The number of Muslim population and voters in Britain is increasing with each passing day. According to the 1971 census, the population of Muslims in England and Wales was 126,000, which according to the 2021 census has increased to more than 4 million at a rate of 6.5%, in which the number of Pakistanis is 1.6 million, while in the United Kingdom The number of mosques is more than one and a half thousand. Due to the growing population of Muslims in Britain, the number of Muslim members in the British Parliament is also increasing.

       Among the 10 Muslim candidates who were successful in the elections held in 2010, there were 7 Muslim British MPs of Pakistani origin, while 15 of the 19 Muslim British MPs who were successful in the recent British elections are of Pakistani origin. The Pakistani community living in Britain has demanded these Muslim British MPs to raise their voices in the British Parliament against the atrocities of India and Israel, which are illegally occupying Kashmir and Palestine. It should be noted that the manifesto of the Labor Party includes Hamas, Israel immediate ceasefire, provision of aid and Israel-Palestine two-state solution.

      Britain is currently facing the worst economic crisis since Brexit. Inflation and unemployment are on the rise and the rich class of Britain is leaving the country and moving to other countries along with their capital, while inflation has severely affected the lower class and according to a news report, more than 12,000 people have been killed in the streets in London alone in recent days. But they are forced to sleep. The main reason for the worst defeat of the Conservative Party in the recent British elections was poor economic policy, rising inflation and unemployment, which Indian-born British Prime Minister Rishi Sonak failed to control. In such a tough situation, the leader of the Labor Party and the newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer entered the field with the slogan "Time for a change" and ended the 14-year rule of the Conservative Party, which won only 121 seats in the recent election.

      After winning the elections and meeting Prince Charles III of Great Britain, Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labor Party and the newly elected British Prime Minister, has assumed the position of Prime Minister. For the new British Prime Minister, there are major challenges such as improving relations with the powerful global economy and reviving the economy. It is noteworthy that Keir Starmer does not believe in any religion while his wife and children belong to the Jewish religion.

     What struck me the most about the recent UK election was outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sonak's grinning acceptance of defeat after the election results were announced, congratulating opposition leader Keir Starmer on his victory and the new The government had to assure its support. After the election results, the opponents did not raise any question on the transparency of the election, nor did they accuse of rigging and stealing votes, nor did they give any call for protest. Unfortunately, there is no such example in Pakistan. I wish that a tradition of Western-style democracy would be established in Pakistan as well.