Galloway wins Bradford West by-election

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George Galloway wins Bradford West byelection
Respect candidate takes seat from Labour with 10,140 majority, claiming 'the most sensational victory in British political history'

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Patrick Wintour, political editor
The Guardian, Friday 30 March 2012
Article history

George Galloway, right, is greeted by a supporter as he arrives to hear the results of the Bradford West byelection. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA
George Galloway, the leading figure in Respect, has grabbed a remarkable victory in the Bradford West byelection, claiming that "By the grace of God, we have won the most sensational victory in British political history".

It appeared that the seat's Muslim community had decamped from Labour en masse to Galloway's call for an immediate British troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and a fightback against the job crisis.

On a turnout of 50.78%, Labour's shellshocked candidate Imran Hussein was crushed by a 36.59% swing from Labour to Respect that saw Galloway take the seat with a majority of 10,140.

Labour had held the seat in 2010 with a majority of 5,763. It marks an extraordinary personal and political comeback for the controversial politician who lost in the UK general election in 2010, and in the Scottish parliament in 2011, appearing to confirm that the remainder of his career would lie in broadcasting and celebrity programmes.

It is also a bitter blow to Ed Miliband, who failed to capitalise on the suddenly plummeting support for the coalition, and did not see the threat posed by Galloway until too late.

The result raises wider questions over whether the result is a simple one-off reflecting Galloway's personal charisma, or instead a sign of a wider detachment from mainstream party politics.

Hailing his triumph before the official result was announced, Galloway said: "By the grace of God, we have won the most sensational victory in British political history … Labour has been hit by a tidal wave in a seat they have held for many decades and dominated for 100 years. I have won a big victory in every part of the constituency, including in areas many people said I should not even compete."

Labour were privately conceding defeat long before the official result which came at 2.30am on Friday morning.

Galloway claimed the path to his victory went back to "the path of treason by Tony Blair in 1994" that has taken Labour "so far away from its traditional supporters that people feel neglected and betrayed".

He added that Blair remained revered inside the modern Labour party, "swanning around making millions, instead of facing trial in the Hague for war crimes. The big political parties have had a very salutary lesson, and I hope they take note."

Galloway said: "Labour should have won a landslide victory, so voters are not looking for the austerity-lite policies of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls." He claimed Labour had tried almost tribal village politics to save the seat and that they had got their answer.

He said: "I am here for the long term," adding that the main parties would get a shock when Respect stands in the neglected towns of the north in the local elections in May.

The Tories, still needing to make inroads in northern immigrant areas, floundered badly as the party licked its wounds over its shambolic handling of the potential petrol strike. Jackie Whiteley, the Tory candidate came third, with 2,746 votes, 8.37%, a drop of 22.78% on the last electioon.

Labour claimed that it might have retained the seat if the Tory vote had not collapsed so completely. Labour argued that the budget, revelations about Cameron's wealthy donors and the petrol queues all led to the severe drop in Conservative support.

The Tories' coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, had been third in 2010 with 11.7 % of the vote, but this time came fourth with 1,505 votes, or 4.59% of the vote. In the last 48 hours, Ed Miliband's circle started to voice private concerns that a late push by Galloway among the large Asian community might drag the Labour vote down and propel the Conservative candidate to victory. But few Labour officials or outside experts were predicting that Galloway would poll more than 20%, let alone win the seat.

But in the final 48 hours, the Respect vote started to surge, especially among Asian youth, opening up a serious possibility that Galloway could be taken back to the Commons only two years after losing in 2010.

Galloway, a former Labour MP, had previously shown his formidable ability to topple large Labour leads when he won the east London seat of Bow in 2005, overturning a 10,000 majority held by Oona King.

Labour has been campaigning hard in the byelection on the issue of jobs, and the poor showing by Labour suggests Ed Miliband is not able to engender any enthusiasm either for himself or for his calls for an economic stimulus package.

Labour's nerves in Bradford started to show early in the evening when reports emerged that postal ballots showed Labour and Galloway running neck and neck.

At the weekend Galloway held a highly successful 1,000-strong rally, winning the support of some leading mosques, even though the Bradford-born Labour candidate Imran Hussein is a Pakistani Muslim and deputy leader of the council.

Galloway distributed letters insisting that he did not drink and promising he would oppose a war in Iran just as he had fought western imperialist interventions in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan.

The byelection had been caused by the resignation due to a long-term illness by Marsha Singh, the Labour victor in 2010.

At the 2010 general election Labour won the seat in with 18,401 votes, or 45.4%, the Conservatives took 12,638 votes, 31.2%, and the Liberal Democrats trailed in third with 4,732 or 11.7 %.

The byelection also underlines how local factors can make a mockery of national trends. The latest YouGov poll published by the Sun showed Labour holding a 10-point lead.

The result represents an extraordinary new chapter for Galloway personally. He was initially Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin before his expulsion from the party in October 2003 for urging British soldiers not to fight in Iraq.

He subsequently became a founding member of Respect, and he became the MP for Bethnal Green in 2005.

In the 2010 election, Galloway abandoned Bow to try to win Poplar, but found himself unable to recreate his 2005 success in the neighbouring east London constituency.

Full result (with vote share and change since 2010 in brackets)

George Galloway (Respect) 18,341 (55.89%, +52.83%)

Imran Hussain (Labour) 8,201 (24.99%, -20.36%)

Jackie Whiteley (Conservative) 2,746 (8.37%, -22.78%)

Jeanette Sunderland (Liberal Democrat) 1,505 (4.59%, -7.08%)

Sonja McNally (UKIP) 1,085 (3.31%, +1.31%)

Dawud Islam (Green) 481 (1.47%, -0.85%)

Neil Craig (Democratic Nationalists) 344 (1.05%)

Howling Laud Hope (Monster Raving Loony Party) 111 (0.34%)

Whitten wrote:

Galloway is not a socialist and has no integrity. His politics lie somewhere between rank opportunism and a strong belief in reactionary ideals. Have you seen his letter to the 'Elders'? No, it's not an attempt to win the pensioners vote, it's an appeal to the patriarchs and clerics with a "I'm more Muslim than this guy, I heard he drinks alcohol you know?".There is no mobilisation of the working class here, his electoral strategy has only two cornerstones: his own personality cult and reactionary Islamic sectarianism, and he's become increasingly indiscriminate in his appeals to the later since the SWP discovered they had one small grain of principle left and jumped ship.

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I know you don't like the fella, but to say he isn't a socialist is daft.

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He believes in all the old-school type of left-wing ideals and so does his party.

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The guy is savvy

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incredibly hard-working

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has a backbone

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knows how to win within the frameworks of the FPTP system.

Whitten wrote:

no doubt have your door knockers subtly reminding muslim voters that the Labour Party is run by a Jew...