As was widely expected in the UK elections, the Labour Party has registered one of its biggest victories, inflicting a huge defeat on the Conservative Party.

No one had expected this seismic outcome just a few years ago. But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who is going to be the next British Prime Minister, is being hailed by everyone for changing the fortune of the party. He promised to get Britain out of economic stagnation and claimed he would fix the ailing National Health Services. He even reached out to ethnic communities, including the Indian diaspora.

‘Namaste’, Starmer

In the last days of the election campaign, Keir Starmer visited the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury, a prominent Hindu temple in London, and said “namaste” with folded hands. His charm offensive included him wearing a tilak on his forehead and a floral garland around his neck. Starmer may have looked out of place, but it was an attempt to placate angry Indian diaspora voters, the majority of whom were expected to favour the Conservative Party. The temple visit was also intended to send out a strong signal of friendship with India.

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Despite his awkwardness, Starmer knew he had to perform this political act, not only because his visit underscored Labour’s commitment to embracing and celebrating diversity within the UK, but also because he needed to repair relations with the influential Indian diaspora, and, by extension, India. It had been clear for quite some time that his party was returning to power after a hiatus of 14 years and he was going to be the next UK Prime Minister; that is why he needed to undertake an India outreach before assuming office.

The Baggage Of The Past

Starmer’s gesture of visiting the temple was particularly significant given the events of September 2019, when during its annual conference in Brighton, the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership had passed a motion addressing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The motion declared that there was a humanitarian crisis in the region and asserted that the people of Kashmir should be granted the right to self-determination. Additionally, it had called for the deployment of international monitors to the area to ensure the protection of human rights and the assessment of the situation on the ground.

Needless to say, the Labour Party had gone too far. And despite the clarification issued by Jeremy Corbyn, the damage was done.

The motion was met with significant backlash from the Indian diaspora, who felt that it was one-sided and did not consider the complexities of the Kashmir issue. The event marked a turning point as many members of the Indian community began to shift their allegiances to the Conservative Party.

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The Indian government also responded sharply to the Labour’s motion. It was reported that the Indian High Commission in London took the unprecedented step of cancelling a scheduled dinner for Labour leaders, signalling its strong disapproval. The Indian government officially rejected the motion, emphasising its concerns about what it viewed as interference in its internal affairs.

In an effort to mend relations, Starmer attempted to address the situation last year, when he asserted that the Labour Party would strive to maintain strong relations with India, indicating a desire to rebuild trust and cooperation. Despite these efforts, the episode highlighted the fragile nature of Labour’s relations with India and underscored the significant political influence of the Indian diaspora in the UK.
Labour’s image makeover under Starmer

A Changed Labour

Indeed, the Labour Party has now made a triumphant comeback, securing a thumping majority. We should keep in mind that the party is a much-changed one under Starmer. It wants to inject more depth and substance into Britain’s strategic partnership with India.

India is most likely to carefully monitor Labour’s policy stance on Kashmir, immigration and the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Indian government may have apprehensions about Labour’s views on its internal matters, but on balance, the India-UK bilateral relations will not change much under Starmer. In fact, Labour supporters in the Indian community believe that under him, the relations are likely to improve. It is being claimed that the number of Indian-origin Labour MPs would double from the current six members in the outgoing Parliament. 

Will The Ties Improve?

Academics in the UK at times tend to romanticise the bilateral ties between the two countries, looking at it chiefly from the prism of colonial nostalgia. We are led to believe that it is in India’s interest to have a deeper strategic partnership with Britain. To be honest, however, India sees Britain as a middle power, whose influence on the global stage has been on the wane for long. One can only blame the Conservative Party for it, a beleaguered and divided house which presided over 14 years of stagnation. India under Narendra Modi, who was born after the country’s independence, is, whether rightly or wrongly, not in awe of its erstwhile colonial masters.

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Yes, the bilateral trade in goods and services is growing steadily, and stood at £39 billion last year, with the balance of trade heavily in India’s favour. Yes, we have a vocal, upwardly mobile Indian diaspora, which acts as a bridge between the two countries and it often works to India’s advantage. But the oomph factor in bilateral relations has been missing for a long time. For example, India and the US warmed up to each other and became trusted partners only after the Civil Nuclear Agreement between the two countries was brokered under President George W. Bush. It was a pivotal moment that added significant “oomph” to bilateral ties and transformed the dynamics of the relationship, fostering deeper strategic, economic, and technological cooperation. It set the stage for an enduring partnership in the 21st century. Even during the Obama and Trump administrations the bilateral ties never ran out of excitement. 

One cannot say the same about India-UK relations, which badly need to be injected with energy, excitement and a mega-deal. 

FTA: Starmer’s First Challenge In India-UK Ties

With regards to India, one of the first tasks on Starmer’s desk will be to reach a Free Trade Agreement. He has maintained his commitment to completing the FTA, but it is not going to be easy. India’s priority appears to be to finalise an agreement with the European Union (EU) first. The bilateral trade in goods and services last year stood at €113 billion. The two sides relaunched the negotiations in 2022 and the progress is said to be satisfactory.

According to a group of researchers, another stumbling block in the India-UK FTA is “the opposition in the UK to Indian demands for more visas for intra-company transfers and particularly to demands that social security contributions from Indian workers during such transfers be reimbursed”.

Immigration Policies

Brexit has led to record levels of Indian immigration. Of the 6.85 lakh immigrants in the UK today, the majority come from India. The Labour Party’s stated aim is to reduce legal immigration and curb illegal immigration. Many of the legal Indian immigrants are IT professionals on work permits, contributing to the UK’s technology sector. There is a small number of illegal immigrants from India as well.

The party’s policy seeks to balance the economic benefits of skilled migrants with the goal of controlling overall immigration numbers, reflecting broader political and economic priorities.
Human Rights and Citizenship Laws

Historically, the Labour Party has been vocal about human rights issues in India, particularly on laws like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The Labour Party’s criticism has been viewed by the Indian government as interference and a misrepresentation of India’s internal policies aimed at addressing specific security concerns. Starmer will be under pressure from domestic human rights organisations to put forward liberal British perspectives. His diplomatic skills are bound to be tested in the coming months and years.

The relations between the UK’s Labour Party and the Indian government are complex, influenced by historical ties, diaspora politics, and divergent policy priorities. Addressing such challenges will require nuanced diplomacy, mutual respect, and an understanding of the sensitivities involved on both sides.

(Syed Zubair Ahmed is a London-based senior Indian journalist with three decades of experience with the Western media)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

London:

When either Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer take to the stage to hail victory in the British election on Friday, they will be joined at their moment of triumph by either a man with a trash can on his head or someone dressed as “Elmo” from the Muppets.

Among the more than 4,500 candidates standing for election to parliament’s 650 seats are those from fringe parties, single-issue campaigners, and, in a peculiarly British tradition, those who are simply making fun of the whole thing.

The best-known figure in the latter category is Count Binface, “an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet sigma IX”, who will be challenging Prime Minister Sunak in his constituency in northern England.

Dressed in a silver outfit with a matching cape and wearing a silver trash can as a helmet, Binface says he wants to make the July 4 election “Bindependence Day” and that he is the “sane” choice for the electorate.

“That’s right, under the British system I get to stand against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, it’s brilliant,” Binface, aka comedian Jonathan Harvey, told Reuters outside parliament where he was mobbed by passers-by asking to have their photograph taken with him.

Binface is now a familiar face – or helmet – at British elections, having stood against two ex-prime ministers, Theresa May in 2017 – albeit then in his former guise as Lord Buckethead – and Boris Johnson in 2019. He also contested the London mayor elections in 2021 and in May this year when he won 24,000 votes.

Among his eye-catching policies are pledges to price-cap croissants at 1.10 pounds ($1.39), national service for all former prime ministers and that he should represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest.

“It might be true that on Thursday night or Friday morning, I haven’t beaten Rishi Sunak numerically,” said Binface, who has been endorsed by one national newspaper, the irreverent Daily Star tabloid. “But I would argue the moral victory will be mine.”

LOONIES

The veterans of the UK comedy candidate genre belong to the Official Monster Raving Loony Party which was formed in 1982 and has regularly contested elections ever since.

This year it is fielding 22 candidates, including Howling ‘Laud’ Hope, the party leader, Baron Von Thunderclap, and Earl Elvis of East Anglia.

Elsewhere “AI Steve” is hoping to become the world’s first artificial intelligence lawmaker, while the Psychedelic Movement Party candidate in Southend is standing on pledges to ignore the law and open 24-hour cannabis cafes.

Some candidates make no secret of using the election for publicity such as Chris French who is standing having entered his pub “The Mitre” in Richmond, west London, as a political party.

Polls say Labour leader Starmer will be Britain’s next leader. “Elmo” from the Muppets will be competing for his seat.

Like Count Binface, Elmo has stood in numerous elections although Bobby Smith, the man in the furry red outfit, is seeking to make an earnest political point and wants to change the law on fathers’ rights.

Binface himself had a serious message behind the jokes, saying it was important to protect democracy in a year when “over half the eligible humans on your planet” would go to the polls.

“I’m here to cherish it, to defend it, to celebrate the fact that anyone in the UK can not just vote but you all stand for election whatever your platform or however idiotic you look,” he said. “I urge everyone … do go out to vote, and most importantly, make your vote, count.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will on Monday say only his Conservatives can counter a Labour-led government and that a vote for Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK would hamper any chance of his party forming a strong opposition.

Appearing to all but concede defeat before Thursday’s election, Sunak will appeal to those voters on the political right who are considering voting for Farage’s party in protest at his Conservative government.

The Conservatives look set to be kicked out of office after 14 turbulent years, marked by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016 and the cost of living crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Opinion polls have consistently given Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party an around 20-point lead, with support for Reform potentially splitting the centre-right vote and the centrist Liberal Democrats further draining Conservative support.

Sunak will say at a rally that Reform “just won’t win enough seats to oppose Labour”, saying the party had previously said it would be good to get a handful of members of parliament elected.

“Just imagine that: Hundreds and hundreds of Labour MPs opposed by just ‘one, two, three, four, five elected MPs’,” Sunak will say, according to extracts of his speech.

“A Labour government would be bad for our country, and an unchecked Labour government would be a disaster from which it would take decades to recover.”

Farage is one of Britain’s most recognisable and divisive politicians. He has spent decades railing against the establishment and the European Union, and has in recent years campaigned for Donald Trump in the United States.

He entered the election in early June, vowing to supplant the Conservatives as the main party of the right.

Polls appear to show that Reform’s support peaked in the second half of June, shortly before Farage said the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some of his candidates have been dropped for racist or inappropriate remarks.

While Britain’s electoral system means Reform may win millions of votes, the party is unlikely to win more than a handful of parliamentary seats. But that could be enough to split the right in many areas and hand victory to Labour.

Britain will likely elect a centre-left government as much of Europe swings right, including in France where Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally won the first round of a parliamentary election on Sunday.

With polls showing many voters are undecided, Sunak will make a final appeal for people to limit Labour’s power if it gets into government, saying: “We Conservatives will stand up for you and make sure your voice is heard, your values represented.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)