Police investigate fears ‘undue’ spiritual influence was used in general election
Police are investigating whether “undue” spiritual influence was used during the election campaign in Leicestershire, The Telegraph has learnt.
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph in June 2024 revealed concerns about imams in Leicester East exerting spiritual pressure over Muslim voters during the election campaign.
Exerting undue spiritual influence, which means using religion to pressure people into voting in a certain way, is a type of election interference which is illegal under the Elections Act 2022.
Specialist officers at Leicestershire Police are assessing evidence to establish whether any crimes have been committed.
A series of messages, seen by The Telegraph, were being circulated among Leicester’s Muslim community via email and WhatsApp and showed that religious leaders were urging voters to get behind particular candidates.
In one message, voters are told that the “ulama and the masaajid” of Leicester East, meaning religious leaders and mosques, are endorsing Zuffar Haq, the Liberal Democrat candidate.
Members of the community are told that it would be “unwise” for Muslims “not to choose a person of faith who promises never to compromise on Islamic principles”. The message goes on to say that Mr Haq is “Muslim, God-fearing, understands Islamic values and will always stand up for Palestine”.
It notes that Claudia Webbe, the constituency’s former MP, who was standing in this election as an independent, has also “spoken out for Palestine” but adds that “this is not a special favour”.
The message goes on: “Any decent human being should condemn genocide. As an MP expelled from Labour, it is politically advantageous for her to speak on the Palestinian issue.”
Ms Webbe was elected as a Labour MP in 2019 but has sat as an independent since 2020 after she was expelled from Labour following her criminal conviction for harassing a love rival.
Another message that was being circulated in Leicester East was titled: “Why we as the Muslim community should vote for Claudia Webbe”. It said that a vote for Labour or Conservative was a “vote for genocide”.
There is no suggestion that Ms Webbe or Mr Haq were involved in circulating such messages. The Conservative candidate Shivani Raja won the seat, with Labour’s Rajesh Agrawal in second place. Mr Haq came third, with the former MP Ms Webb in fourth place.
The force is responsible for policing the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland which covers 11 constituencies.
Of these, three are now represented by Labour MPs, seven by Conservative MPs and one by Shockat Adam, an independent MP who ran on a pro-Gaza ticket and unseated Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth.
Leicestershire Police declined to say in which constituency – or constituencies – their investigations were focused.
The force said: “A report alleging undue influence on the general election was received on July 3. Enquiries are ongoing to establish if any criminal offences have occurred. We cannot comment further at this time.”
Counter Roman Catholic Church
The laws on spiritual influence were originally designed as an attempt to counter the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy over elections, largely in the southern counties of Ireland.
In 2015, the mayor of Tower Hamlets was removed from office after an electoral court found him guilty of a string of “corrupt and illegal practices” including ballot rigging, bribery and buying votes.
The judgment said that Lutfur Rahman was found to have exerted “undue spiritual influence” to win votes among the east London borough’s Muslim Bangladeshi community. This was the first and only successful case of its kind since the 19th century.
Mr Ashworth, whose constituency has one of the highest proportions of Muslim voters in the country, has spoken of the most “vitriolic and intimidating” campaign he has faced in his time as an MP, including being banned from mosques and chased down streets while being filmed.
He has provided evidence of potentially illegal leaflets distributed in the constituency which are separately being investigated by Leicestershire Police.