Nadine Osman

An estimated 45 Muslim councillors were elected in England (24), Scotland (9) and Wales (12) in the local elections, constituting 0.9 percent of the 4,851 newly elected councillors, according to data exclusively compiled by The Muslim News.

Source: Muslim News

Only 18 percent of newly elected Muslim councillors on May 4 are women (all Labour). However, they did match their male counterpart success rate, 8 of 29 Muslim women candidates were elected (28 percent); compared to the 37 Muslim men elected out of 130 candidates (28 percent). Over half (52 percent) of councils up for election did not have a Muslim candidate.

Like previous local elections, Muslim Labour councillors dominate the political landscape of Muslim politicians. 28 Muslim Labour councillors were elected this year constituting 62 percent of all Muslim councillors and 2.4 percent of all Labour councillors. A total of 11 Conservative Muslim candidates were elected out of 36 candidates.

The result means 0.6 percent of all newly elected Conservative councillors are Muslim the underrepresentation is significant considering the party enjoyed its best local election performance in a decade, making significant gains at the expense of the Labour Party.

3 out of 18 Muslim Liberal Democrat candidates were elected (representing 2 percent of all the newly Liberal Democrats councillors). The Liberal Democrats lost 41 seats, despite their vote share increasing.

In Scotland, two Muslim Scottish National Party (SNP) candidates were elected both in North Lanarkshire. The party won the highest share of the vote and retained its position as the party with the highest share of councillors.

The UK Independence Party lost every seat they were defending but gained just one seat at the expense of the Labour Party.