British Muslims disillusioned with political process

Sadiq Khan, the Shadow Secretary for Justice, recently lamented the lack of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) MPs in parliament as a disgrace and admitted that the steady decline in support for Labour among ethnic minority voters is due to the fact that BAME voters have been ignored.

A brief glance at the composition of the 650 MPs in parliament would incline anyone to agree; there are only 27 members from BAME backgrounds. Although the general election in May is likely to see an increase in these figures, any improvement will be a far cry from the 91 BAME MPs needed for parliament to accurately represent the ethnic make-up of the British public.

In particular, lack of representation of the Muslim community in parliament is reflected in the attitude to voting held by a large proportion of British Muslims. Research conducted by Ipsos MORI found that only 47 per cent of Muslims voted in the last general election. Twenty nine per cent of those Muslims who did not vote cited “disinterest” and the feeling that there is “no point” as their main reasons for not voting.

For many Muslims government policies that have a direct impact on the Muslim community demonstrate a lack of understanding when it comes to dealing with sensitive issues and concerns. A clear example of this is the government’s anti-radicalisation Prevent Strategy which has recently been the subject of criticism from former senior Muslim police officer Dal Babu, who claims that the strategy is a “toxic brand” and that many of those involved in it do not understand the communities they serve. In response to this criticism senior police officer Sir Peter Fahy has said that although he’s been fighting for police forces to hire more Muslim officers he does not believe it is vital in order to connect with Muslim communities.

For many Muslims it would be difficult to understand how an anti-radicalisation strategy targeted directly at them could be successful and effective with limited involvement from the Muslim community. After all, if you applied the same concept to policies designed to tackle issues within other segments of the population, for example policies targeted at females, it would be reasonable to expect that females would be heavily involved in shaping and implementing such policies.

Until more is done to redress the imbalance of parliamentary representation among minority groups, such as the Muslim community, and to increase the level of consultation and engagement with these groups, it is likely to be the case that large numbers of BAME constituents will feel disillusioned with the political process. We are left with the catch 22 “chicken-and-egg scenario” described by Sadiq Khan: BAME voters think politicians don’t care about them and so don’t vote.

The potential being squandered here is huge. In 26 seats across the country the Muslim community makes up more than 20 per cent of the population. An increase in voter turnout among Muslims, that matches the national average, would mean the number of Muslim voters would be larger than a sitting MPs majority in more than 40 seats.

Politicians see they’re not voting, so pay less attention to them, which increases the gap in understanding between minority communities and authority figures that currently exists.

Ismail Patel is Chairman of YouElect, a non-profit and independent British Muslim grassroots initiative aimed at promoting voter registration and political engagement.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.