Labour shadow cabinet member loses seat to pro-Palestine independent in shock result

Independent pro-Gaza candidate Shockat Adam unseated Labour's shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth in the East Midlands constituency of Leicester South on Friday, in one of the biggest shocks in the UK general election.

Adam, a 51-year-old local, won with 14,739 votes, beating Ashworth, who received 13,760.

Leicester South has been a safe Labour seat for decades. Apart from a brief Liberal Democrat interlude in 2004-2005 after a by-election, widely seen as a protest against the Iraq war, the East Midlands constituency has had a Labour MP since 1987. 

Jon Ashworth won the 2019 election with a thumping majority of more than 26,000.

Around 30 percent of Leicester South's population are Muslim - more than 30,000 people.

During the campaign, Adam told MEE he decided to stand for parliament in an effort to disrupt the two-party system and represent people who feel they’re not being heard by the political class. 

“This is my home, this is my children’s home,” he told MEE. “I love Leicester. I love this country and that is why we have to make sure that we have a voice representing everybody.”

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