Islamophobes Celebrate Boris Johnson Victory While Muslims Fear for their Future

By Yousuf Ali

The Conservative Party claimed an overwhelming victory in the United Kingdom’s general election, on Thursday, December 12. According to the BBC, Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won 365 out of 650 seats with Labour’s seat count reduced to 203 leaving the former with a solid majority in the House of Commons. The strong showing for the Scottish National Party (SNP) with it claiming 48 out of Scotland’s 59 seats in the House of Common on a platform diametrically opposed to the Conservative’s pro-Brexit, the anti-EU stance was very notable.

With Labour’s poor showing, the party leader promised to resign early in 2020 to make room for a newly elected leader following a leadership process. The results also had implications for Muslims who were the targets of substantial vitriol over the years form the Boris Johnson and Islamophobes who welcomed his victory.

Boris Johnson’s long-time record of anti-Muslim bigotry has left many Muslims on edge and has delighted many well-known Islamophobes. After the victory, the Canadian Islamophobic propagandist Ezra Levant celebrated the Conservative victory as a “rebuke of the insanity of the Labour Party” in a YouTube video. Additionally, the anti-Muslim Zionist right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro dedicated a whole episode of his talk show to the election. In addition to several other examples of Islamophobes rallying around their newly-reinforced ally in Downing Street, many British Muslims expressed their concern for the future of their community in the country.

According to The Independent, the Harun Khan from the Muslim Council of Britain, the largest organization representing the interests of British Muslims stated “Mr. Johnson commands a majority, but there is a palpable sense of fear amongst Muslim communities around the country. We entered the election campaign period with long-standing concerns about bigotry in our politics and our governing party. Now we worry that Islamophobia is ‘oven-ready’ for government”. It should be noted that the Chief Rabbi of the UK was quoted in the same article saying, “The election may be over, but concerns about the resurgence of antisemitism very much remain. Islamophobia, racism and other forms of prejudice continue to afflict our communities and, as has been well-publicized, even our political parties.”.

It should be noted that the Rabbi made no mention of Islamophobia before the election when he chose to attack the Labour leader for alleged antisemitism. The sense of fear amongst Muslims was so strong that some British Muslims such as Manzoor Ali saying, “But I’m scared for my personal safety, I worry about my children’s future.”