Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of taking a softer stance on family voting to appease the Left and win over Muslim voters. In government, the Tories changed voter fraud guidance to ensure the Electoral Commission, which oversees UK elections, made tackling family voting a priority. Labour has abandoned those plans despite reports of “concerningly high levels” of family voting in the Gorton and Denton by-election last month. Family voting, which is illegal, is an attempt to influence someone’s vote in the polling booth. It has become a particular concern in parts of the country with high Muslim populations because wives culturally can take their lead from their husbands. In 2022, the Conservative government gave the Electoral Commission tougher new guidelines for “tackling fraud”. They included “providing clear guidance to deliver robust polls that meet the UK’s highest standards of democratic integrity”, which ensured “the secrecy of the ballot inside polling stations by making it clear in both advice and guidance that any breach of the secrecy laws or attempt to influence someone’s vote while …