No, the 'Islamist party' did not win recent U.K. Bradford City Council polls

What's the claim?

The 2024 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election was held on May 2, and 30 out of 90 council seats were up for polls to select local councilors across the Bradford District. The results of the local polls were announced the same day. 

Against this backdrop, a 40-second video is circulating on social media, depicting a celebratory scene where men exiting a building are greeted by a crowd, and an individual is being cheered on amid chants and slogans. 

On X (formerly Twitter), the video was shared with captions like, "The Islamic party in Bradford won. Coming to every city and town near you soon!! Be afraid, you should be (sic)." Another iteration claimed, "Islamist party wins the election in bradford, UK. ITS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE END (sic)."

The same video was also shared with a text laid over that read: "CONGRATS ON SARFRAZ SIDIQUE WINNING BD7 LOCAL Islamist party wins elections in Bradford, United Kingdom." 

A similar post on X in Spanish garnered over 1,37,900 views. The archived versions of posts sharing the clip can be found here, and here.

On Facebook, the same video was shared (archived here) with an Islamophobic caption, claiming that the "Islamist Party's win" would mean "dark times"  for the United Kingdom.

Screenshots of viral posts. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the person in the video is Rizwan Saleem, an independent candidate who won a seat on the Bradford local council. Further, the Labor Party won the Bradford election, and no party known as the 'Islamist Party' exists in the U.K.

What did we find?

Upon conducting a reverse image search on a keyframe from the video, we found that the same clip was posted on X (archived here)  by the account 'UK Justice Forum Latest Video News Updates!' on May 5. The accompanying caption stated, "Independent Rizwan Saleem elected to the Bradford City ward in last week's local council elections after calling out the Labor Party over the war in Gaza." 

Source: X

Upon checking a release titled "Notice of Poll - District Elections 2 May 2024" on the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council's website, we were able to confirm that Saleem ran as an independent candidate in the election.

Screenshots of the 'Notice of Poll - District Elections 2 May 2024' official release from the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council's website. (Source: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

This aligns with the information provided in a video posted on Saleem's TikTok account (archived here), reinforcing his status as an elected independent councilor.

Screenshot of a video posted on Saleem’s TikTok account (Source: TikTok/Screenshot)

The results of the 2024 Bradford election

The Labor Party emerged triumphant in the 2024 Bradford City Council election, securing the majority of the votes. According to BBC News, their victory was underscored by 10 Labour candidates winning on May 2, consolidating the party's presence with 49 seats on the district council.

Screenshots of the election results from the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council's website. (Source: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Saleem secured a seat on the Bradford City Council by securing 52 percent of the vote share in the Bradford City ward, amounting to 2,224 votes from his constituency.

What about the 'Islamist party'?

Various political parties participated in the 2024 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election. However, we found no reference to or any information about the existence of an 'Islamist party' participating in the polls. 

Apart from independent candidates, members of the Labour Party, Conservative Party, Green Party, and Liberal Democrats, contested the local polls.

The verdict

Social media posts claiming that the 'Islamist party' secured victory in the Bradford City Council elections in the United Kingdom are false. The Labour Party emerged as the most-voted party in polls, and the person in the viral video is Rizwan Saleem, an independent candidate who won a seat.