The Labour Party which was routed in the general elections for years has now come up with a strategy to garner the support of the British Indian community which constitutes as the largest non-white ethnic group in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom is bracing for a general election in a few months and political parties have started their campaign to gain voters in the polls. The UK's Labour Party has begun a fresh approach to seek British Indian votes which has been far away from them at least since 2010.
The British Indian community stands to be the largest non-white ethnic community in the United Kingdom. Moreover, it is also the largest Asian ethnic community leaving behind even the British Chinese. Any party that is able to tap the British Indian voter base will gain early momentum into the general election.
The British Indian population stands at 1.8 million which is 3.1 percent of the total population according to the 2021 UK census. The Labour Party is taking a series of measures to gain the trust of the British Indian community. This includes two close aides of Labour Party leader Keir Starmer traveling to India on Monday to showcase that the Labour Party cares about India's interests.
David Lammy and Jonathan Reynolds will visit New Delhi and Mumbai on a five-day trip starting on Monday. The move comes away from the previous leadership of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn who was a Pakistan sympathiser and a vocal voice in the UK against India. One of the reasons why the British Indian community didn't vote for the Labour Party previously was Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-India Kashmir stance that called for an independent Kashmir.
Keir Starmer so far has refused to toe such a line and appeared as a more moderate leader. Him sending David Lammy and Jonathan Reynolds on an Indian visit signals Starmer trying to gain New Delhi’s trust. However, how much of this will transfer as votes for Keir Starmer is unpredictable as the Conservative Party has a strong Hindu face in Rishi Sunak who has included many Hindu practices at 10 Downing Street after taking office last year.