“In general independent candidates do not do very well in Westminster elections,” says Matt Singh, a pollster. That changed in the general election on July 4th, when the Labour Party won a landslide but also lost five of its safest seats to independents. Their victories mean there are now six independents in Parliament, the most elected since 1945. With the exception of a unionist in Northern Ireland, all campaigned heavily on Gaza.

Jeremy Corbyn, a pro-Palestinian former Labour leader, won comfortably in Islington North despite being barred from standing for the party. But Mr Corbyn had name recognition and years of service in his constituency to help him. The surprise of the night came in Leicester South, where Shockat Adam, an optometrist, beat Jonathan Ashworth, a shadow cabinet minister. An even bigger shock was only just avoided: the new health secretary, Wes Streeting, came within 529 votes of losing his seat to Leanne Mohamad, a 23-year-old British Palestinian.

On the streets of Leicester, a city in the East Midlands, it is easy to see why Labour suffered. Beneath Palestinian flags hanging from the windows of orange-brick terraced houses, residents remain furious about Labour’s initial refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Some repeat comments made by Sir Keir Starmer, the new prime minister, soon after the October 7th attacks, when he appeared to agree that Israel had “the right” to withhold power and water. In Blackburn, a northern city where Adnan Hussain, a 34-year-old lawyer, won a stunning victory, similar views prevail. “This is a protest vote, and I’ve come on the back of a genocide,” he says.