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What percentage of English mayors are Muslim today?
Executive summary
Available reporting does not provide a single, up‑to‑date percentage of English (or UK) mayors who are Muslim; fact‑checks note that some high‑profile mayors are Muslim (for example London’s Sadiq Khan) but that claims listing many Muslim mayors are misleading because mayoral religion is not always public and many named places do not currently have Muslim mayors [1] [2] [3]. Full Fact and Reuters conclude that past presence of Muslim mayors in many towns is real, but current counts in viral posts are inaccurate or unsupported [3] [2].
1. Why there’s no clear “percentage” in the sources: official data gaps
There is no authoritative dataset cited in the provided reporting that tabulates the religion of every mayor in England; Full Fact and Reuters emphasise that the religion of many civic and executive mayors “is not always a matter of public record,” so simple percentage calculations based on viral lists are unreliable [1] [3]. Reuters specifically describes viral posts as “misleading” because offices contacted did not identify as Muslim and because jurisdictions and mayoral types vary [2].
2. What the fact‑checks do confirm: some Muslim mayors exist, notably London
The fact‑checks acknowledge verifiable examples: Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, is Muslim; Full Fact notes other towns have had Muslim mayors and that some places named in viral posts (such as Oldham and Blackburn) “appear to currently have mayors who are Muslim,” while others do not [1] [3]. Reuters says many of the viral claims are “misleading, partly false” and that several directly elected mayoral offices contacted “do not identify as Muslim” [2].
3. How viral claims mislead: mixing past and present, civic vs elected mayors
Full Fact’s 2017 and later checks point out an important framing error in viral material: the UK has both civic (ceremonial) mayors and directly elected executive mayors, and the viral graphic conflates past incumbents with current ones. Full Fact concluded that the listed places “have had a Muslim mayor in the past, they do not all currently have a Muslim mayor” [3] [4]. That conflation inflates perceived prevalence when someone turns historical instances into a present‑day statistic [3].
4. Attempts at counting after the fact: continued disputes and updates
Follow‑up outlets and smaller sites have tried to track changes: Reuters noted directories of mosques and local lists but still treated claims about mayoral religion as unverified or false when offices denied those identities [2]. A fact‑check site updated in 2025 says some local mayoral appointments after earlier reporting included Muslim individuals, indicating counts can change over time — but it stops short of providing a comprehensive percentage and acknowledges ongoing updates [5].
5. What a reliable percentage would require
To produce a defensible percentage you would need: (a) a clear definition of which “mayors” are being counted (ceremonial civic mayors, directly elected metro mayors, or all council mayors), (b) a current list of incumbents across those categories, and (c) a verified record or self‑identification of religious affiliation for each incumbent. The sources explicitly show these elements are missing from the viral claims and that local offices often do not report religion, so the percentage in those claims is unsupported [1] [3] [2].
6. Competing perspectives and likely agendas
Mainstream fact‑checkers (Full Fact, Reuters) aim to correct viral misinformation by checking official offices and historical records and therefore emphasise limits on verification and the false framing of many posts [1] [2] [3]. Some advocacy or community outlets highlight Muslim officeholders and positive milestones (examples in community coverage of Muslim women mayors), which can be framed to celebrate representation but do not present a comprehensive statistical analysis [6] [7]. There are also fringe sites recycling viral claims or commentary without rigorous sourcing; those are cited in the search results but lack reliable verification [8] [9].
7. Bottom line for your original question
Available reporting does not provide a single, verifiable percentage of English mayors who are Muslim today; fact‑checkers say the popular lists are misleading because they conflate past and present officeholders and because mayoral religion is not always publicly recorded [3] [2] [1]. If you want a defensible percentage, the next steps are clear: define which class of mayors you mean, compile a current incumbents list, and seek self‑identification or direct confirmation from each mayoral office — none of which is done in the viral claims critiqued by Reuters and Full Fact [2] [3].