Birmingham Perry Barr.

One of the most controversial independents in the current Parliament, Ayoub Khan drew national attention last year when he publicly championed the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a Birmingham match -- then faced widespread criticism after casting doubt on the October 7 attacks in public statements. More recently, in March 2026, he promoted a debunked claim on social media that Benjamin Netanyahu was dead or seriously injured, which national outlets covered negatively. On the floor of the Commons, he voted this April to refer Prime Minister Starmer to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson appointment, and opposed government regulations withdrawing housing support from failed asylum seekers -- consistent with his strongly anti-immigration-control voting record (10% aligned).

His parliamentary participation is low: he voted in roughly 37% of divisions, well below the Commons average. Within that record, he votes consistently in favour of workers' rights (88%), civil liberties (89%), tenant rights (89%), and welfare expansion (83%), while showing little alignment with pro-business or fiscal-restraint positions. He has broken from the independent bloc five times, most notably voting against an amendment to protect lower earners' pension tax relief and backing a welfare reform amendment to protect disabled people -- a stance where he polls 35 percentage points above his fellow independents. His 222 speech contributions span defence, social care, crime, and local government, suggesting genuine breadth, though no committee role focuses that activity.

Khan won Birmingham Perry Barr in July 2024 standing on a pro-Gaza platform, defeating Labour, and that context explains much of his voting pattern and public positioning on Israel-Palestine. His stance profile and rebel votes paint a picture of a left-leaning, civil-liberties-focused MP whose political identity is tightly bound to that founding cause. Local news coverage over the past 90 days has been largely neutral in tone, spreading across local government, transport, and culture stories. Social media conduct remains a live question for constituents assessing his judgment.