The Muslim Vote Candidate Selection Methodology

We are a community-first campaign focused on uniting the Muslim community and putting issues that really matter to the community at the forefront.

What are the key criteria we are judging by?

1. Did this candidate back the ceasefire vote in November 2023?
2. Does this candidate have a strong track record of support on policy issues the Muslim community care about and do they back our policy pledges in whole or part?
3. Does the local community back him/her?
4. Is it strategically important to back this candidate taking into account the national picture?

What is the Selection Process

1. In an anti-ceasefire seat:
   1. Is there a local community backed candidate? If yes, we support them.
   2. If there is not a local community backed candidate, the default vote goes to Chosen Alternative Party.
2. In a pro-ceasefire seat:
   1. Is the incumbent good on policy issues, supportive of our policy pledges and do they have local community support? If yes, we support them.
   2. If no, then is there a local community backed candidate? If yes, we support them.
   3. If there is no local community backed candidate, the default vote goes to the Chosen Alternative Party.

What if there are multiple viable candidates?

1. We will assess which candidate has the most community support.
2. We will consult with our shura advisory panel.
3. Based on (1) and (2) above, we will make a decision.

How do we choose the Chosen Alternative Party?

1. We email out each of Greens, Lib Dems, Workers Party, Plaid Cymru, SNP, and Alba and ask them to fill out a form of how many of our pledges they can support fully or in part.
2. The one with the most agreement forms an important part of our consideration in terms of who to endorse.
3. Typically, for current Conservative seats, we will back Liberal Democrats.
4. Typically, for all incumbent SNP, Plaid Cymru, Alba Party, Green and Worker Party candidates we will back the incumbent.
5. We will back a very small handful of pro-Muslim Labour MPs but will otherwise not back Labour.
6. Labour-held seats will typically go to the Greens or Worker Party.

How do you judge “backed by the local community?”

1. In many cases this is very clear-cut.
2. In cases where it is not clear cut, we take soundings from the local community and take advice from our advisory shura.

Important disclaimers

1. While we have a team of volunteers carefully trawling through the 650 seats and considering each candidate’s public profile carefully, mistakes will be made and we will end up unfortunately accidentally endorsing an inappropriate candidate. This is highly unlikely to be the case in Muslim-heavy areas as there the scrutiny has been intense. But if you do notice any glaring issues with a candidate from the other ~575 seats, please drop us a line at [email protected] and we will correct it.
2. In some cases you may see that we have not yet named a particular candidate but have only named the party. Shortly before polling day we should inshAllah be in a position to have populated all fields across the 650 seats with names.
3. These seats have had input from senior leaders and community organisers from across the UK, including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.