The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

Could Galloway return to Labour?

We know he wants to rejoin Labour. But does the party want him back?

By Dan McCurry Published 12 April 2012 13:59

Galloway doesn't speak of rejoining Labour, but his actions do. Photograph: Getty Images.

The tears and anguish in Bethnal Green & Bow in the early hours of 7 May 2005, when Oona King lost to George Galloway by 800 votes, were very different to the pale expressions of shock in Bradford, as Imran Hussein walked out of the count to disappear back into obscurity. In east London, Galloway won by exploiting divisions. In Bradford he won by offering entertainment, and stimulating a constituency where voters felt taken for granted.

At the time of Oona’s loss, I was chair of Bow Labour. I saw the Respect Party born through a coalition of Godless communists and religious fundamentalists. It was always doomed to division and that came in the council elections the following year. I created what became our mantra: “Vote for us, or you get Galloway!” The white working class obliged. Respect did gain 11 council seats, but they were all Bangladeshi candidates, none of the SWP people were elected.

This was when Galloway started to complain about the tiresome village politics of the Bangladeshis. This is when he began to miss being a member of the Labour Party. From then on, he started to look around for some way, anyway, to get back into Labour, but every effort eluded him, until Bradford.

Today he doesn't speak of rejoining Labour, but his actions do. He used to call for the death penalty for Tony Blair. Today, if he disagrees with Labour policy, he doesn’t make personal attacks. This isn’t just since the election, but during the election also. He is actively behaving himself. The £200k salary from a sports radio slot doesn’t compare to the buzz of parliament. George doesn’t want that buzz to come to an end in May 2014, nor does he want the uncertainty and the hard work of trying to win somewhere else.

So what role could George Galloway have back in the Labour Party? There can be no question of George occupying a position in the Foreign Office. The salute to Saddam Hussein will never be forgotten. It’s difficult to imagine him occupying any ministry. The use for him is that he entertains us. Politics is often a boring subject. We hear the politicians make the same old arguments time and again. George fires things up. He is a character.

But do we really want the media to invite George onto TV panels as “The Labour bloke” at the expense of a senior Labour politician, especially when we don’t know what he’s going to say? He might be behaving himself now, but once he’s been accepted back into the party, there’s no saying what he’ll decide to do.

A return for George is more likely through real-politick than rational consideration. It is likely that this coalition will end with the Rat-Run Scenario. Once we get close to the election the Lib Dems will split along Labour/Tory lines and the government will survive on a wafer majority. We’ll be back to the days of sick MPs being brought in to vote on stretchers. At that point George Galloway becomes powerful, because he has a vote.

The problem with that idea is that Labour won’t leave it till so late to decide what to do about this seat. By the time the coalition runs for the hills, Bradford West will have a Labour candidate. If it’s not George then whoever it is will not step aside for anyone. So it’s unlikely that the national party will have anything much to do with it. It will be for the 400 members of Bradford West to decide. How will that play out?

Imran Hussein is unlikely to remain as candidate. He made a fundamental mistake by ignoring Galloway and it’s unlikely that his party believe he can win in two years. A fresh face will be needed. The question is whether there is anyone who can take on Galloway and win this seat back. If it is the case that Imran Hussein was the best candidate that this constituency could produce, then George Galloway will be laughing.

Dan McCurry is a photographer in east London and a Labour activist. He is a former chair of the Bow Labour Party.

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Tags: George Galloway Labour

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72 comments

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Sat, 2012-09-22 06:14 — Frederick. (not verified)

GalLoway is a traitor for supporting the Taliban and Iraq against our troops.
Galloway is an islamofascist,
Galloway holds racist views against Jews and embraces Hamas leaders who believe in a Charter that calls for all Jews to be killed.
Galloway is a propagandist for islamofascist Iran that hangs gays and stones women to death.
Galloway supports the mass murderer Bashir who killed 400,000 non-Moslems in Darfur.
Galloway supports the mass murderer Assad in fascist Baathis Syria.
Galloway supports the islamofascist terrorist Hezbollah.
There isn't a genocidal Moslem leader that Galloway does not support.
George Galloway has no place in the Labour Party which quite rightly expelled him for treason. He has no place in British politics. He is a convert to a fanatical strain of Islam. Galloway should be deported to racist apartheid Pakistan.

Sat, 2012-09-22 09:16 — Simon Gothard (not verified)

He fits the bill perfectly for the New New Labour party then.

Sat, 2012-09-22 06:14 — Frederick. (not verified)

Fri, 2012-09-21 09:55 — Andrew Preston (not verified)

Well, I'm a potential Labour voter. To me Dan Mccurry just sounds like a mediocre Labour machine politico.

Funny really, regarding Bethnall..., I've heard all the stuff before, many times, but I've never, ever heard anyone properly acknowledge that........ if you are a Jewish woman MP and your constituency is primarily Islamic, then you must have the brain cells of a gnat, or an unhealthy loyaly to your party... to have supported the assault on Iraq. And to seriously think there would be no consequences.

The truth is your party, the Labour Party has learned nothing from its defeat in 2010, you haven't reached out to people who might vote for you. And , in reality, you're a massive distance from the people on the margins in this country.

Thu, 2012-09-20 10:08 — Paul D (not verified)

The Labour backbenches are poorer without Galloway. If shooting your mouth off was a reason not to let him back then you can get rid of half the front-benches on both sides as well. Ironically with his successful debates with Christopher Hitchens and performance at the Senate, Galloway is looking to leave behind a far more fondly remembered legacy than the vilified and discredited Blair and his cronies who smeared him then kicked him out the party. Galloway is an imperfect, populist, blabber mouth with a knack for communication. I'd rather have him attacking the Tories than beating Labour candidates in by-elections thank you very much.

Mon, 2012-09-17 23:34 — Andrew Heenan (not verified)

Mr Galloway does not want the Labour party, he wants a platform.

I can think of at least one good reason for them NOT to take him back for every labour policy you could name - but the clincher is his recent pro-Assange tirade on rape, for which he is utterly unrepentant, though he has tried the 'out of context' defence (he wasn't; it's all there on YouTube, clear as a bell). The man is an unreconstructed Neanderthal.

Galloway does have his strengths; he is an expert at puncturing pomposity and hubris, great at reminding us, in detail, of people's past disasters (except his own).

But these are all negative abilities - he's a destroyer, not a builder. No party hoping for government should go near him. But keep him on Question Time - the nation needs him more than Labour does.

Sat, 2012-09-15 23:42 — Gideon Polya

George Galloway could conceivably return to the Labour Party as an honoured member only if Labour joins Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the late Jewish British Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter and George Galloway in demanding arraignment of Tony Blair before the International Criminal Court.

Post-invasion Iraqi deaths from violence (1.5 million) and from war-imposed deprivation (1.2 million) total 2.7 million (Google "Iraqi Holocaust, Iraqi Genocide", "Mus;im Holocaust, Muslim Genocide" and "Iraq deaths just foreign policy".

Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu re Blair war crimes in The Observer (2 September 2012): "On what grounds do we decide that Robert Mugabe should go the International Criminal Court, Tony Blair should join the international speakers' circuit, bin Laden should be assassinated, but Iraq should be invaded, not because it possesses weapons of mass destruction, as Mr Bush's chief supporter, Mr Blair, confessed last week, but in order to get rid of Saddam Hussein?... On these grounds alone [huge deaths in in post-invasion Iraq], in a consistent world, those responsible for this suffering and loss of life should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in the Hague" (Google "Why I had no choice but to spurn Tony Blair").

Late Jewish British Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter arguing that " it is just that Bush and Blair be arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice" (Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech 2005; Google "Art, truth and politics"): "The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law. The invasion was an arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public; an act intended to consolidate American military and economic control of the Middle East masquerading as a last resort all other justifications having failed to justify themselves as liberation. A formidable assertion of military force responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands and thousands of innocent people. We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery, degradation and death to the Iraqi people and call it 'bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East'. How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought. "

2.7 million? More than enough, I would have thought.

Fri, 2012-09-21 07:18 — Frederick. (not verified)

The lunatic neo-nazi gideon Polya ought to be arraigned before a court for his consistent incitement to Jew hatred.

Mon, 2012-09-10 19:44 — Bolshie Dave (not verified)

Trouble with respect is its all one way traffic

Sat, 2012-09-08 16:29 — hugh markey (not verified)

Let's not be stupido and diss George Galloway. A debater without parallel who has seen off feared champs such as Tony B and Christopher Hitchens, and don't even mention those dumbbells in the US Senate, George is much better off freelancing. As it were- pissing into the Labour tent and motivating the party to keep honest and true. To urinate on the Tories and their lackeys is like bringing coals to Newcastle.

Inside the Labour Party George would be a loose cannon and a sitting duck target for the huntin' and shootin' bunch on the Tory parliamentary benches. Naturally, New Labour sneaks would be leaking like mad to the Tory media. How often have we heard - 'Galloway is the Anti-Christ!'
It will be nice to see the Tories enveloped in a pincer movement - George on the one side, the Labour Party on the other.

Labourer

Mon, 2012-09-03 00:20 — Tosh Posh (not verified)

Nice to see him back in the UK after going HOME to celebrate his multiple choice bride of the Nth selection.

I just love the parasite smoking his cheap Common's tax free cigars.

Just give him a one way ticket under an assumed name on a false passport, then jettison him over Israel with a machine gun, with blank ammunition. Dressed in the terrorist uniform of his choice preferred faith from his homeland. Break his wrists first so he cannot pull the rip cord.

Mon, 2012-09-03 17:08 — Walleyed Mr Whippy (not verified)

This is a worrying post. It is written by a sadist, perhaps a nazi. Certainly someone who loves to think about pain and torture.

Sun, 2012-09-02 20:30 — soapy (not verified)

Does the Labour Party really want someone in membership who refers to disabled people as "winder lickers"?If you were disabled would this make you want to vote for such a person whatever tribe they happen to be a member of?
How too do women feel about his recently expressed views on rape?Are women going to vote for such an individual?
The Labour party has main some gains in government and outside for policies which promote equality and which have left George Galloway several decades behind the times.
Like an old dog,or Tony Blair,George Galloway has had his day.

Sat, 2012-09-01 12:12 — Red Rain (not verified)

Now why would the Labour party re-admit a misogynistic rabid Jew hater and the lover of oppressive tyrannical despots.

Sat, 2012-09-01 20:05 — Walleyed Mr Whippy (not verified)

Your venom and your bile and hate do you no credit. GG was not, is not a Jew hater. If you had any idea beyond your hatepost, you would not rant like this.

Tell us please how you feel about rabid Israel preparing to plunge the world into war with its fake claims about Iran and the aggressive, vicious declarations of war.

We are all sick of Israel, the gangster state, punishing the Palestinians for the Holocaust. Now they want to punish Iran. Your friends are the greatest threat to world peace for 50 years.

I was a supporter of Israel once - never again. Never.

Sun, 2012-09-16 20:57 — J Sutherland (not verified)

"We are all sick of Israel, the gangster state"

You, Galloway and other apoligists for fascism (as long as it's out & proud against USA and Israel) undoubtebly are but plenty of people aren't.

"Gangster state". And your Islamic states? How would you describe those?

If Mr G spoke about Islam the way he does about Zionism you'd dismiss him as a right-wing nazi. How fortunate there's the Z word; it makes it so much easier for his supporters, but most people aren't fooled.

Thu, 2012-09-20 17:39 — Yadam

Shooting kids makes it easy to be critical of Zionism. Shooting old women waving white flags make it easy to be critical of Zionism. Blowing up hospitals and schools, bulldozing homes, and just generally being a bunch of racist bastards makes it very very easy to be critical of Zionism.

Sat, 2012-09-22 14:52 — J Sutherland (not verified)

There you are - use of the 'z word' and no one would even suspect that you're a you-know-what. It's great being 'left-wing' isn't it!

Sun, 2012-09-02 09:26 — skylight

Galloway and his pro-fascist supporters need to understand in fact, Galloway was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 when he was found guilty on party charges that he "incited Arabs to fight British troops, he incited British troops to defy orders. . . he threatened to stand against Labour [and] he backed an 'anti-war' candidate" against the Labour government. This isn't "opposition to the war." It's supporting the war from the other side.

Sun, 2012-09-02 13:31 — Herbert (not verified)

If Britain hadn't been invading Iran then there would have been no Arabs shooting at British troops. You were supporting the wrong war.

Sun, 2012-09-02 19:04 — Dave Crouch (not verified)

Well Herbert, you are aptly named; a right herbert and no mistake.
When, in the parallel universe that you inhabit, did British troops invade Iran.

Sun, 2012-09-02 18:10 — skylight

If Arab terrorists hadn't flown planes into buildings there would have been no invasion of Arabs lands. George Galloway is a hypocrite and a liar. Galloway supports dictatorships and Arab terrorist organizations, this is a well-known fact.

Sun, 2012-09-02 18:09 — skylight

Thu, 2012-08-30 20:23 — Walleyed Mr Whippy (not verified)

There speaks the true Thatcherite - nazi sympathies, support for mass murder. No surprises there.

But we knew that about Thatcher anyway.

Thu, 2012-08-30 12:40 — thatcherite philistine (not verified)

When I look at Gallowank and the ghastly menagerie of fundamentalist islamist vermin who elected him, I just think: this country needs an Anders Breivik. Or ten.

Tue, 2012-09-04 08:25 — Mark Stein (not verified)

Tories get off on mass murder, dirty f****in pervs. Glad they aint in control of this country, people might begin to suspect that their motives are purely based on the sadistic thrill of creating as much misery as possible for those who dont read the Daily Mail...oh wait, they are in power and thats what they are doing right now. Secret mantra of the Tory Party is 'If not now, then when?'.

Sun, 2012-09-02 13:33 — Herbert (not verified)

What, to shoot British people in the same way Breivik shot Norwegians. What strange patriots Nazis are.

Tue, 2012-09-04 08:28 — Mark Stein (not verified)

Herbie you got a point, but Breivik was never a Nazi, he was a conservative. Let us never forget that.

Thu, 2012-08-30 12:19 — Denis Brown (not verified)

As usual, there is lots of venom for GG, leaving little left for our real enemies - let's begin with the millionaire Cabinet, with its repeated attacks on working people, the poorest being the first to be brutalised.

I think that those above would be well advised to think about the damage they do, publicising their petty and petulant dislikes. Perhaps they have thought about it, and relish their sabotage.

GG , like Tony Benn, is a real Parliamentarian, an increasingly rare phenomonen.

Sat, 2012-09-01 12:26 — Red Rain (not verified)

“GG , like Tony Benn, is a real Parliamentarian”. The people of Bradford West are still waiting for their Parliamentarian representative to start earning his £65.000 plus allowances and expenses and that very generous pension or is GG too busy defending violent Islam?

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Fri, 2012-04-20 09:28 — Mark Allen (not verified)

In the age of the career politician, how many MPs offer nothing really to their constituency other than towing the party line? GG, whatever you think of him, stands up for what HE believes in and does it with passion and articulation. His landslide victory in Bradford, as he has mentioned once or twice, highlights the homogenization of party politics in the UK today. Cameron has moved the tories from right to left, Blair swung Labour from left to right and they both now occupy the centre ground that the Liberals have occupied for years.

Sat, 2012-04-14 11:38 — longchalk

Garbage.

Sat, 2012-04-14 07:25 — rain (not verified)

George Galloway talked a great deal about Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir: forced marriage and the disappearance of many a young Bradford girl never got a mention. Bradford’s drug problems with its roots in West Pakistan also cleverly avoided. George may have his landslide, but many of these votes are suspect like you often find in these constituents. George Galloway; insulted Labour’s candidate saying he wasn’t a true Muslim and implied he drank beer down the local pub all lies. I wish to ask George what does Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir have to do with youth unemployment in Bradford West, and also how does he propose to deal with Bradford’s Pakistani rooted drug problem, and the disappearance of many a young Bradford girl? George Galloway will avoid these issues like the plague, and will keep pursuing his obsession with Palestine and Kashmir, but these issues which concern the majority who didn’t vote for Galloway: will not go away, and George will find himself confronting some ugly realities in Bradford West.

Fri, 2012-04-13 22:12 — The Purple Booker (not verified)

If George Galloway is allowed into the Labour Party, I will oppose it and call for the leader's head on a plate and Galloway kicked back out. I think we should avoid a witch hunt on Imran Hussain, he was the best candidate for that seat. What Labour needs to do is to launch a legal challenge against George Galloway. Galloway spread lies about the Labour candidate, Imran Hussain, claiming that he was an alcoholic or something of the sort, and posted it through people's doors in personal letters. If Labour were successful in the challenge, which they would be then Galloway will be blocked from standing in for any election ever again, he will be disqualified and there will be a by-election in Bradford West. It will be Labour's chance to retake the seat, which will be easier, but start talking policy and engaging with the voters that they lost in Bradford ad they can use the work of Movement for Change, bringing in community organisers in order to mobilise Labour to win in these communities. Also, the "Galloway effect" which was the key problem for Labour, and he won't be able to stand to recontest the seat, in fact his reputation will be tarnished completely. So Labour will be at a huge advantage. That way we not only take back Bradford but we also destroy George Galloway for good (so he couldn't even contest a council seat in a RESPECT target seat even if he wanted to).

Sun, 2012-09-02 19:34 — skylight

The leadership fully understand if George Galloway was never allowed back into the Labour party the party would experience a stampede for the door.

Fri, 2012-04-13 18:36 — mbrecker (not verified)

In a sense, supporting Galloway is like supporting Ron Paul. At first to the uninformed, he may seem like he's shaking up the system. Then, you realize that it's all an act.

Mnay people forget that when he was at Talk Sport, he was the token weekend liberal to the rest of the right wingers there. Did he ever put his job on the line for any progressive issue? No, he didn't. Instead, it was just do what you're told and pick up the checks.

Whenever I read about Galloway, his supporters never name anything done that's had a long-lasting positive effect nationally. Instead it's all hype:

Talk Sport
Press TV
The Senate Testimony Clip that's been hyped to death

Is an MP's job to be a personality or to be effective in representing their constituency? If you want just a personality, elect Jonathan Ross.

Now that he's back in Parliament, will we see him regularly on Question Time or other coverage? No. Why? is it because that's a massive conspiracy by the Coalition to censor him? Or, is it because he has nothing to offer?

Fri, 2012-04-13 15:57 — Elizabeth R (not verified)

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance are holding a rally in Bradford West in August. I wonder whether the constituency's new 'left wing' MP will be joining us? Somehow I doubt it. I suspect that he will be on the side of the clericalist homophobic medievalist fascist who would like to see Gays crucified or thrown off mountains.

Fri, 2012-04-13 15:57 — Elizabeth R (not verified)

Fri, 2012-04-13 15:51 — Coleridge (not verified)

George Galloway is an islamofascist supporter of Saddam Hussein, Bashir the butcher of 400,000 innocent Black people murdered in the Sudan, he supports Hamas whose Charter at Article 7 call for the murder of all Jews, he is the Goebbels of the islamofascist regime in Iran on PressTV and refuses to condemn the stoning of women and the hanging of Gays.
Galloway is a nazi. there is no place for him in any democratic party.

Fri, 2012-04-13 12:34 — Stuart Madewell (not verified)

I normally agree with Dan but not on this occasion. Tower Hamlets is not Bradford there problems are very different, but one thing they both need is an MP who listens to and represents the whole of the constituency more than they 'follow the leader'. No one should underestimate Galloway's appeal to Muslim voters he articulates very clearly their concerns which is why he gets elected. But over the Iraq War and Palestine the Labour Party and this includes Dan has chosen to ignore his undoubted appeal.

Rumours of Respects death are exagerated. At General elections when the choice is between Labour and Tory and the big question is who will form the government - voters in Bradford may switch back to Labour to keep the Tories out.

The issue for Labour is how we build representative politics in Muslim communities which is sustainable. The answer in my view is to respect the aspiration of those Muslim communities and to choose representatives who reflect that.

We also have to engage the muslim community at the local level and not to rely on so-called community leaders. Labour itself has to be a democratic party and avoid the centralised stitch ups of the past

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Wed, 2012-04-18 18:30 — brizo (not verified)

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Fri, 2012-04-13 10:01 — Adam557 (not verified)

This article is a perfect example of how deeply deluded and incompetent the Labour party is. If the author hadn't already mentioned it himself it would be completely obvious to any reader that person who wrote this article is a Labour hack.

Not one mention of Galloway's opposition to austerity. Not one mention of Galloway's opposition to the various wars Labour took us into. And yet this author attributes Galloway's 18,000 majority to him being an 'entertainment' to the constituency. If this is what the author really believes then he is a complete fool.

I'm not in Respect and I have a lot of problems with Galloway, but whatever your thoughts may be of him, he has taken a principled stand against war, austerity and neo-liberalism - one which chimes with huge swathes of working class people.

It should be obvious to anyone watching Labour's fortunes that they are routinely hammered at every election when a viable alternative for working class people to vote for is offered. It happened in Scotland where the SNP have offered tacit social-democratic reforms and anti-war/anti-trident rhetoric, it has happened in Bradford, and it's about to happen in Glasgow when Labour will lose control of the City Council to the SNP.

Either you can attribute all of Labour's defeats to personalities, or you acknowledge the bitter resentment people harbor towards Labour's betrayal of the working class and the complete adherence to neo-liberal free-market policies.

The only reason people will be voting for Labour in the next general election is to keep the Tories out.

Mon, 2012-09-03 07:01 — skylight

"viable alternative for working class people to vote for is offered" You're either politically naive or stupid if you truly believe Labour's much maligned and insulted traditional supporters would ally themselves along a community they despise and with very good reason. "Labour's betrayal of the working class" Started with Labour's shameful obsession with the minority vote. The Labour party need to understand you can only serve one master-you can never be all things to all men.