Jess Phillips used her victory speech to declare that the ‘pretty gruesome’ campaign for her seat was ‘the worst election I have ever stood in’ – as she was drowned out by boos and chants of ‘Free Palestine‘.
The Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley suffered jeers by pro-Palestinian supporters after she beat an independent by just 693.
She looked furious and yelled back: ‘I understand that a strong woman standing up to you is met with such reticence’ before asking for the mob to be thrown out, pointing at them and saying: ‘Can you throw them out?’
Jess said that a young woman delivering leaflets for her yesterday was filmed by her rivals ‘and screamed at by a much older man’ and then her tyres slashed. She also said she declined the help of the family of murdered MP Jo Cox because of the violence in her area.
She added: ‘I didn’t bring my children here tonight, because I knew this would happen and they deserve better.
‘It’s been pretty gruelling here, I’m afraid to say some of my opponents did not reflect at all the manner in which some of my constituents behaved which was with decorum and class.’
After her majority shrank to three figures, she was interrupted by shouts of ‘Jody, Jody’ – in support of the her rival Jody McIntyre.
Labour’s Jess Phillips is booed as she wins her general election count after being closely run by Jody McIntyre, another pro-Gaza independent. The Returning Officer (right) tried to calm them down before she asked for them to be thrown out
Labour’s Jess Phillips reacts to being jeered
She accused her opponents of violence and intimidation
She looked furious and yelled back: ‘ I understand that a strong woman standing up to you is met with such reticence’
She was run close by her pro-Palestine rival Jody McIntyre (pictured waving)
There were also calls of ‘free Palestine’ and ‘shame on you’ after she narrowly managed to hold on to her seat, scraping 11,275 votes compared to the 10,582 won by Workers Party candidate McIntyre.
Ms Phillips hit back at the hecklers: ‘I see we’re going to continue with the class that we had during the campaign… I understand that a strong woman standing up to you is met with such reticence.’
She also thanked West Midlands Police for their response to the ‘aggression that we have suffered’ during the six-week campaign.
Sir Keir Starmer was also heckled with shouts of ‘Free Palestine’ both at the polling station in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency and at his election count as he was declared to have won his seat.
Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth was unseated by an independent in Leicester South.
Mr Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general who has made media appearances for the party during Labour’s election campaign, was defeated by independent candidate Shockat Adam.
His main policies include ‘standing for global peace and justice’, and he writes on his website: ‘I will champion Leicester’s values of global peace and justice, which have been neglected by the current government. Our constituency MP refused to vote for a ceasefire to end the bloodshed in Gaza, resulting in the needless deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.’
Jess thanked her supporters after a troublesome campaign almost cost her her seat
Ms Phillips said 2024 was ‘the worst election I have ever stood in’ – but she held on
In Dewsbury and Batley, independent candidate Iqbal Mohamed, whose key focus areas include a ceasefire and peace agreement in Gaza, beat the Labour candidate Heather Iqbal.
In Blackburn, Labour’s Kate Hollern lost to Adnan Hussain, who said in his online statement to voters: ‘I promise to make your concerns against the injustice being inflicted against the people of Gaza be heard in the places where our so-called representatives failed.’
In Birmingham Perry Barr, Labour’s Khalid Mahmood lost the seat to independent Ayoub Khan by 507 votes.
Birmingham Live previously reported Mr Khan was one of several candidates in the city who wanted to stand in the election ‘with a strong emphasis on the Gaza situation’.
Labour’s Paul Waugh meanwhile won Rochdale from Workers Party leader George Galloway, just months after he won the seat in a shock by-election dominated by the Gaza war.
Mr Galloway, a former Labour and Respect member, swept to victory in Rochdale in February gaining almost 40% of the vote.
Palestine has been a major theme of Mr Galloway’s political career, throughout which he has voiced ferocious opposition to British and US foreign policies, both in the Middle East and, more recently, in their support for Ukraine.
Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meanwhile ran as an independent and successfully retained his long-held seat of Islington North in London. He beat his Labour rival by more than 7,000 votes.
He has long been a pro-Palestine voice and his platform included demanding an end to the occupation of Palestinian Territories.
Independent candidate Faiza Shaheen blamed Labour for letting former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith win in Chingford and Woodford Green, saying the vote was split between her and her Labour challenger.
Ms Shaheen was dropped by Labour as its candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green after liking a series of posts on social media platform X that allegedly downplayed antisemitism allegations.
She wrote on X: ‘Our vote was a combination of those appalled by how I was treated, those who took issue with having an imposed candidate who didn’t know us, those who were never going to vote Labour after Starmer’s stance on Gaza, and those that have never voted before.
‘Labour split the vote the moment they deselected me.’
Sir Keir’s position on the Gaza conflict has previously caused unease among some in his party, with the leader facing criticism for not calling for an immediate ceasefire sooner.
In its manifesto, the Labour party committed to recognising a Palestinian state.
The Labour Party faced setbacks in the local elections in some previously safe areas, particularly those with large Muslim populations.
