Manchester’s Muslim voters pivotal in UK election showdown
Al Jazeera
The Manchester suburbs of Gorton and Denton have been thrust to the centre of the fight for Britain’s political future.
Manchester, United Kingdom – Usman Khan stands behind his counter, rows of colourful vapes lined up in neat rows behind him. Outside, a biting wind blows down Denton High Street. Khan moved to Denton from nearby Gorton not long ago. Now, he’s one of the 80,000 locals who have been thrust into the centre of the fight for the future of British politics as they prepare to head to the polls this month.
These Manchester suburbs have become a microcosm of the wider story of modern British politics: Support for the centrist parties of Labour and the Conservatives is collapsing while emergent left- and right-wing parties are surging in the polls. What happens in the February 26 parliamentary by-election in the highly diverse constituency of Gorton and Denton will reverberate all the way to Westminster – and analysts have said it’s the local Muslim vote holding the cards.
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