On Saturday, 57-year-old Keir Starmer comfortably defeated Rebecca Long-Bailey and Indian-origin MP Lisa Nandy to emerge the chief of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. The 57-year-old the former shadow Brexit secretary said in a statement that his task was to "lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and hope". Starmer's election has been widely welcomed, including by the diaspora representative group Labour Friends of India (LFIN), which called on the new Opposition leader to work on rebuilding trust and stronger India-UK ties.
Starmer, who had been the frontrunner in the race since it opened for voting at the end of February, said he had been elected "at a time like no other" and promised to work "constructively" with the government to confront the pandemic and not engage in "opposition for opposition's sake".
"We will shine a torch on critical issues and where we see mistakes or faltering government or things not happening as quickly as they should we'll challenge that and call that out," said the MP for Holborn and St Pancras in London, who had fought on a unity platform.
The lawyer-turned-politician has previously led the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and served in Corbyn's top team for more than three years and was the face of the party's Brexit policy. Saturday's result was announced by email after plans for a public event in London were cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.
For Starmer, resetting relations with Indian diaspora in the UK will be a major challenge. Indians are the largest ethnic minority group in the UK with over 1.5 million people, accounting for 2.3 per cent of the total UK population. The Labour party has traditionally attracted loyal support of the Indian community, with over 50 per cent of Indians living in the UK voting Labour in 2017. Under the former Labour chief Corbyn's leadership, many British Indians had turned away from the party, which, at least in part, led to the Labour's massive defeat in the December 2019 general elections. Corbyn resigned soon after.
Labour and Indian diaspora
Under Corbyn, the Labour party, after Article 370 was abrogated by India, passed a resolution at its annual conference last year in favour of international intervention in Kashmir. The Kashmir issue was a divisive one in the UK, one that dealt mainly with vote bank politics. After the revocation of Article 370 and the communication ban that followed in the valley, UK's leader of opposition Jeremy Corbyn tweeted, on August 11, “The situation in Kashmir is deeply disturbing. Human rights abuses taking place are unacceptable. The rights of the Kashmiri people must be respected and UN resolutions implemented.” This was largely seen as a move to placate Pakistani and Mirpuri (from the PoK) voters, who could make or break the Labour party in crucial seats. The UK elections will be held on December 12.
Then came protests, ostensibly sponsored by Pakistani groups, which resulted in some incidents of violence near the Indian embassy, and a controversial 'Free Kashmir' parade coinciding with the Hindu festival of Diwali.
Even Indian-origin Labour party MPs had also voiced their concerns over the issue, with Leicester-based MP Keith Vaz saying it had caused "unnecessary distress and division within the party and the country", as he wrote to Corbyn to recall the motion. Veteran Labour MP Virendra Sharma also described the matter as a domestic issue, which should not involve the party's intervention. He said: "Matters surrounding Kashmir and Article 370 are a matter for India internally, it is not for the Labour party to decide. This is a domestic issue which needs resolving within Indian law and the Constitution."
Diaspora welcomes Starmer's victory
Hindustan Times quoted Manoj Ladwa, a leading London-based community figure, welcoming Starmer's election. “Under the leadership of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour recklessly alienated many British Indians. Corbyn’s supporters frequently sniped against India, a country that is a hugely important strategic and economic partner for the UK. I like many other traditional Labour voters left the Labour party for those very reasons”.
Rajesh Agarwal, LFIN co-chair and London's Deputy Mayor for business, said in a statement, "In these unprecedented and challenging times, it is more important than ever before that the Labour party plays its part by effectively holding the government to account. The Labour party must also make the changes necessary to win hearts, minds and trust of the British people, including that of the 1.5 million strong British Indian community."
"The Labour party is the natural party for British Indians but last few years have seen the relations strained. I hope the change in leadership is the beginning of a healing process and the party will be able to regain the trust of the British Indian community," he said.
"The result today will bring unity to the Labour party, show the country we are a serious party of government in waiting and prepare to win the next general election," said Virendra Sharma, a veteran Indian-origin Labour MP.
