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Labour’s new push for support from British Indian voters

Nearly two-thirds of British Indians supported Labour for years

From organising trips to India to hiring community volunteers, the UK’s main opposition Labour Party has announced a series of measures to win back the support of the British Indian community, which has been on the wane in recent years.

Nearly two-thirds of British Indians, who form the second-largest immigrant group in the UK, and the largest minority-ethnic group, supported Labour for years, The Guardian reported.

But the numbers fell sharply with a UK-based think-tank showing that in 2019 only 30 per cent voted for the Keir Starmer-led party, in stark contrast to 61 per cent in 2010.

“We’ve taken Indian voters for granted for years, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious they are going elsewhere and we need to do something about that,” a party official told the paper.

To re-engage with the community, the party has rolled out new initiatives, which include hiring community outreach volunteers, revamping the Labour Friends of India group, and organising a trip to India for two of its senior shadow ministers.

“As a canvassing umbrella initiative focused on event organisation and social media dissemination, we’re looking to serve the widest group of stakeholders to ensure a Labour victory,” Krish Raval, the group’s chair, told The Guardian.

Labour Friends of India celebrates Diwali

The group has hired two volunteers to brief Labour parliamentary candidates on issues of importance to India, and on Sunday, shadow ministers David Lammy and Jonathan Reynolds will travel to Delhi and Mumbai on a five-day trip.

In November last year, Sir Keir Starmer joined top members of the British Indian community, including Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami, to celebrate Diwali where he expressed his gratitude to the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities in the UK.

In June 2023, he emphasised the importance of “modern India” and said that “a strategic partnership with India will be key” to a future Labour government.

Citing experts, The Guardian said that a shift in the British Indian stance has come about partly for socioeconomic reasons and partly for religious ones.

As they have become richer in recent years, survey data shows their attitudes have become more conservative.

In addition, the party had an uncomfortable relationship with India after the party, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, unanimously passed a motion on Kashmir at the 2019 Labour conference.

In 2019, BJP activists actively campaigned for the Conservatives in more than 40 seats across the UK, and now with Rishi Sunak as Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister, the sailing is likely to be rough for the opposition.

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British Indians could form a key swing vote in polls

The report, ‘Britain’s New Swing Voters? A Survey of British Indian Attitudes,’ by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, reveals around four in ten community members identify with the Labour Party, while three in ten support the ruling Conservative Party, reports Asian Lite News

If a snap election is held in the UK, British Indians could be important swing voters, a new report has said, explaining that around four in ten community members identify with the Labour Party, while three in ten support the ruling Conservative Party.

The report “Britain’s New Swing Voters? A Survey of British Indian Attitudes,” is a collaboration between the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

The study analysed a new, nationally representative online survey of 792 British Indian eligible voters— the Survey of British Indian Attitudes (SBIA) — conducted between July 30 and August 16, 2021.

The Indian diaspora in the UK is young, educated, and growing fast. Still, too little is known about the community’s political attitudes.@MilanV, @CEDuckworth21, & D. Kapur analyze the results of a new survey of the British Indian community: https://t.co/opQEZU3RCc pic.twitter.com/5Uof30rl3K
— Carnegie Endowment (@CarnegieEndow) November 18, 2021

The authors of the report are Caroline Duckworth (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Devesh Kapur (Johns Hopkins-SAIS), and Milan Vaishnav (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

According to the report on Thursday, British Indians demonstrate a modest preference for the Labour Party, but the latter’s historical advantage has eroded.

“Around four in ten British Indians identify with the Labour Party, while three in ten support the Conservative Party and around one in ten identifies with smaller, third parties. However, related survey evidence suggests that there is a clear deterioration in British Indians’ support for the Labour Party. If a snap election were held tomorrow, British Indians could be important swing voters,” it said.

According to the report, among British Indians, Labour enjoys a 10-percentage-point advantage over the Conservatives in a hypothetical general election, but a significant minority (15 percent) is undecided.

“While Labour has lost ground over the last decade, the Conservatives have not consistently been the beneficiary. Data suggest support for the Conservative Party has plateaued and a rising share of respondents support third parties or are undecided,” it said.

The report notes that a majority of Muslim and Sikh respondents, and a plurality of those with no religious affiliation, would support the Labour Party in the event of a snap election, lining up behind them in large numbers. However, a plurality of Christians and Hindus reports a preference for the Conservative Party, albeit by smaller margins, it said.

Just 37 per cent of British Indians approve of Boris Johnson’s performance as Prime Minister. In a hypothetical general election, Labour leader Keir Starmer emerges as the most popular prime ministerial choice. Close on his heels, however, is Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, a British Indian whose popularity outshines that of Johnson or fellow British Indian Cabinet minister Priti Patel, said the report.

“Although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys limited support from the diaspora, Conservative Party supporters and Hindus are the most upbeat about his job performance. When it comes to foreign policy, few British Indians rate UK-India relations as a top political issue. Most do not have strong views on the Johnson government’s India policy, and do not perceive any party with an advantage in the stewardship of the UK-India relationship,” said the report.

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