Making a new record in British parliament, a record of 13 Muslim lawmakers have been elected in one of the most unpredictable and extraordinary general elections in Britain, doubling the number from 8 in 2010.
“It is great news that there are more Muslim MPs elected than ever before. However, the House of Commons still does not reflect the diversity of the population,” said Editor of The Muslim News, Ahmed J Versi.
Versi welcomed the appointment of eight Muslim women in the elections, seeing it as a welcome sign that more Muslim women have been elected this year, six Labour, one Conservative and one Scottish National Party (SNP).
The election included the first Muslim SNP MP, Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh, elected in the landslide by the nationalist party in Scotland as well as the first female Muslim Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani.
In Scotland, four Muslim candidates won seats for the first time for the opposition party and added to five who were re-elected
Yet, Anas Sarwar in Glasgow, who was the only sitting Muslim MP for Labour party not re-elected after falling victim of the sweeping SNP victories.
In one of election surprises, mental health campaigner Naz Shah won Bradford West back for Labour with a majority of 11,420 against Respect party leader George Galloway who had won the seat in a landslide bi-election in 2012.
After final count of votes, Labour has nine Muslim MPs, the Tories three and the SNP one.
The Liberal Democrats party has only one Muslim MP, despite fielding 24 Muslim candidates all in unwinnable seats.
In May 7 elections, the Tories secured 331 seats, putting Cameron back in Downing Street with the once small gap between the Tories and Labour now gaping.
While the Labour won 232 of the declared results of the 635 seats, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won 56, Lib Dems eight, Plaid Cymru three, UKIP one, the Greens one and others 19.
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