Gender and moral issues present a particular bind for Muslim politicians in western democracies, due to the strength of femonationalism. In social democrat parties, scholars have argued that Muslim politicians with socially conservative religious views are constrained or not selected by the secular and anti-clerical history of these parties. However, politicians outside mainstream parties may be less constrained. I study the case of independents in the 2024 UK general election, who were elected to represent constituencies with many Muslim voters on a pro-Palestine platform. I show that these independent candidates were overwhelming men, notwithstanding a few high-profile women who were formerly Labour politicians. I study the votes and public statements on gender and moral issues of these politicians (abortion decriminalisation, LGBT education, ‘grooming gangs’/CSE enquiry), and of Labour politicians in seats where an independent came close to unseating them. I find that these politicians advance more gender conservative positions than the party who previously held their seats (Labour). However, when these politicians attempt to form a new radical left party with defecting MPs from Labour, this strand of gender conservativism disappears and is brought in line with the more socially-progressive views of MPs initially selected by the Labour Party. These findings suggest that parties as institutions shape the political opportunities to advance gender conservative positions.
