Sayeeda Warsi quits Conservatives over UK party’s lurch to ‘far right’

Former co-chair criticises party’s ‘hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities’.

Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister has resigned from the opposition Conservative Party, saying it has moved too far to the right.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who sits in the House of Lords, announced her decision on Thursday, saying that it was “a reflection of how far right my Party has moved and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities”.

“I am a Conservative and remain so but sadly the current Party are far removed from the Party I joined,” said Warsi, who made history by becoming the country’s first Muslim cabinet minister under former Prime Minister David Cameron and formerly served as co-chair of the Conservatives.

It is with a heavy heart that I have today informed my whip and decided for now to no longer take the @Conservatives whip.
This is a sad day for me.
I am a Conservative and remain so but sadly the current Party are far removed from the Party I joined and served in Cabinet.
My…

— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) September 26, 2024

Warsi’s decision came amid controversy over her response to the recent acquittal of pro-Palestinian protester Marieha Hussain, who faced racial abuse charges after carrying a placard depicting then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, alongside coconuts under a tree on a beach.

Prosecutors considered the placard to be a racist slur, interpreting its meaning as “you may be brown on the outside, but you are white on the inside”.

After Hussain’s acquittal, Warsi posted a picture on X of herself drinking from a coconut and wished her “many congratulations”.

Shortly after Warsi released her statement, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Complaints were received regarding divisive language allegedly used by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi … [who] was informed an investigation was about to begin earlier this week.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that all complaints are investigated without prejudice.”

Later, Warsi defended her decision to support Hussain. “A court of law found #MariehaHussain not guilty. Whatever Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman think of that decision that is the rule of law and they are not above the law,” she posted on X.

“I will not be gagged on a point of principle,” she said.

Warsi, who is of Pakistani origin and was made a peer in 2007 by Cameron and served in his first government, resigned as a minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2014 over the government’s policy on Gaza.

At the time, she described the United Kingdom’s stance as “morally indefensible” and called for a weapons embargo to be placed on Israel.

Throughout her career, Warsi has taken multiple stands against racism and Islamophobia within party ranks.

In 2022, she came to the defence of Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani, who claimed she was sacked as minister because colleagues felt “uncomfortable” about her religion and because she had not defended the party against Islamophobia allegations.

At the time, Warsi told Sky News that the party saw the issue of Islamophobia as “far less serious than other forms of bigotry”.

Last year, Warsi called Braverman “dangerous” over comments she made against pro-Palestine protests.

The row erupted ahead of the Conservative Party conference that starts on Sunday, where hopefuls will make their cases to become leader.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies