A pro-Palestine independent candidate beat a Labour MP and told supporters: "We are here on the back of a genocide."<br /><br />Solicitor Adnan Hussain pipped Labour's Kate Hollern just 132 votes in a tightly-fought contest in Blackburn, Lancs., where she previously held an 18,000 majority.<br /><br />Speaking to supporters outside King George’s Hall in the town, he called for a moment of silence in recognition that his campaign came in protest at Labour's stance on Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza.<br /><br />He then told supporters: "We can never give up and believe in yourselves. What we have seen in recent weeks has been unbelievable.<br /><br />“Now you have to carry on the fight to work towards a better community, towards a better Blackburn towards, being better people.<br /><br />“We have to unite our communities. <br /><br />"Like I said from the beginning our brothers and sisters in Bastwell have the same issues that our brothers and sisters have in Mill Hill. <br /><br />"And we to stick and stay true to the word.<br /><br />“We can’t ever forget the reality. We are here on the back of a genocide and if that is giving us an opportunity then we must grasp it.<br /><br />“And use it for the betterment of our communities.”<br /><br />He went on say communities could not move on and would remained stagnated if ‘communities are divided’.<br /><br />Earlier Mr Hussain thanked outgoing MP Ms Hollern for her valuable service to the town in his acceptance speech.<br /><br />He had pledged to be "a voice for all" in the constituency in a video address when he announced his candidacy.<br /><br />Around a third of Blackburn's residents are Muslim and was one of several safe seats that fell to Pro-Gaza independents.<br /><br />In his candidacy video, Mr Hussain had promised to make sure constituents' concerns about Gaza were "heard loud and clear".<br /><br />The shock defeat came after Labour's former shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth lost his seat in Leicester South to Shockat Adam, who said: “This is for Gaza."<br /><br />Labour's Heather Iqbal lost by nearly 7,000 votes to Iqbal Mohamed in Dewsbury and Batley. <br /><br />And in Birmingham Perry Barr, the former Labour MP Khalid Mahmood lost to the independent Ayoub Khan.<br /><br />All four defeats came in urban areas with high Muslim populations where Gaza had been a primary concern among voters.<br /><br />Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting scraped by with only 528 votes more than his closest rival Leanne Mohamad in Ilford.
