Elham Asaad Buaras
More than 1,000 councillors from across Britain’s political spectrum have signed a “Councillor Pledge for Palestine” ahead of May’s local elections in England, signalling that Gaza and the wider Israel–Palestine conflict are set to feature prominently on the doorstep during this year’s campaign.
The pledge, launched in December 2025 by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), has been taken up by 1,028 serving councillors. It is being driven into the local elections by Vote Palestine 2026, a coalition bringing together PSC, the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain, The Muslim Vote, the British Palestinian Committee and the Palestinian Forum in Britain. Organisers say the aim is to ensure Palestine remains a ballot-box issue as parties prepare for polling day in May.
Signatories commit themselves, in office, to “uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and to take steps to ensure their authority is not complicit in alleged violations of international law by Israel. In practical terms, that includes pressing for the divestment of Local Government Pension Scheme funds from companies campaigners argue are linked to Israel’s military actions, as well as reviewing procurement policies. Campaigners claim that more than £12.2bn of council-administered pension investments are tied up in companies they consider complicit, including more than £450m in the arms manufacturer BAE Systems.
Support for the pledge spans party lines, though it is strongest among the Greens and Labour. Of the current signatories, 345 are Green councillors, 338 Labour, 104 Liberal Democrat and three Conservative, with the remainder drawn from the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Scottish Greens, local parties and independents. Among those backing it are the Green Party’s Deputy Leader Mothin Ali, Labour’s Matthew Brown, leader of Preston city council, and the independent MP and Birmingham councillor Ayoub Khan.
Dan Iley-Williamson, PSC’s political organiser, said the “mass movement for Palestine” that has seen repeated demonstrations across Britain since the outbreak of war in Gaza “is not going away”, and warned candidates that “if you want our votes, stand up for Palestine”. Alongside the councillor pledge, campaigners formally launched a “People’s Pledge for Palestine” on February 21, urging voters to consider only council candidates who have signed up.
The intervention comes at a delicate moment for the Labour Party. With all London borough seats up for election and a swathe of metropolitan and unitary authorities also facing voters in May, Labour is braced for a difficult set of contests amid sliding national poll ratings. The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is already confronting disquiet on the party’s left over his stance on the conflict. Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, said the leadership’s refusal to “stand up for the rights of the Palestinian people” had “already badly hurt Labour at the polls” and warned of further losses in May unless ministers shifted course.
In several battleground councils the numbers are eye-catching. In Hackney, where Labour holds a commanding majority, all six Green and Independent Socialist councillors have signed the pledge, compared with three Labour members. Zoë Garbett, a Green councillor standing for the borough’s mayoralty, said Hackney had previously taken a stand against South African apartheid and should now do the same in respect of Palestine. In Sheffield, which is under no overall control, 20 of 84 councillors (24 %) have signed, all from Labour and the Greens. In Oxford, where Labour lost control of the council in 2023 after nine councillors resigned from the party over Gaza, nine of 48 councillors have signed, largely Greens and independents. In Islington, by contrast, 59 % of councillors have backed the pledge, most of them Labour members in a borough the party dominates.
Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, an independent Oxford councillor, said many politicians had expressed concern about events in Gaza but few had taken “concrete action”, arguing the pledge was a test of “honesty, integrity and consistency” in applying international law.
Whether the issue will translate into material shifts in council control remains to be seen. But with a national launch on February 24 and more than a dozen local Vote Palestine campaigns already active in London, Newcastle, Birmingham and Sheffield, organisers are plainly intent on making Palestine a live issue in town halls across England as the local election campaign gathers pace.
(Feature photo WikiCommons)
