As the table on our page Muslim demographics by constituency shows, the 2011 Census found that Luton South is 25.3% Muslim and Luton North is 22.4% Muslim. In 2015 Labour held both seats, Luton South by 5,711 votes and Luton North by 9,504 votes.

Both are challenging seats for the Conservative Party to win, but could be dramatically turned around if their Muslim voters recognised that the Conservative Party is much more closely aligned with their values than is the Labour Party.

On 5 March 2016 Basit Mahmood, Chairman of Conservative Future Luton arranged for CMF Chairman Mohammed Amin to talk to Luton Conservatives at Beech Hill Conservative Club on Leagrave Road, Luton about how to extend their appeal to Muslim voters. Basit himself exemplifies the changing demographics of Luton; born in the UK, he is a Cambridge University graduate and has no doubts the Conservative Party is the right party for him and for his fellow citizens.

The audience of about a dozen comprised both Muslims and non-Muslims. The format allowed a high level of engagement, both during the question and answer session after Mohammed Amin’s short talk and during the delicious food that had been organised. In particular the format allowed Mohammed Amin to share some concrete suggestions on how to deal with objections.

Basit is seated chairing the meeting in the photograph below while Mohammed Amin is speaking.