Bradford West by-election, 2012

Last updated

Bradford West by-election, 2012
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
←  2010 29 March 2012 (2012-03-29) 2015  →
The Bradford West seat in the House of Commons.
Elected by simple majority using first past the post.
Triggered by resignation of incumbent

  First party Second party Third party
  George Galloway 2007-02-24, 02.jpg No image wide.svg No image wide.svg
Candidate George Galloway Imran Hussain Jackie Whiteley
Party Respect Labour Conservative
Popular vote18,341 8,201 2,746
Percentage55.9% 25.0% 8.4%
SwingIncrease2.svg52.8%Decrease2.svg20.3%Decrease2.svg22.7%

BradfordWest2007Constituency.svg

Boundary of Bradford West in West Yorkshire.
MP before election

Marsha Singh
Labour

Subsequent MP

George Galloway
Respect

The Bradford West by-election was a by-election in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom constituency of Bradford West, which was held on Thursday 29 March 2012. The writ for the by-election was moved and accepted on 6 March 2012.

House of Commons of the United Kingdom lower house in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster. Officially, the full name of the house is the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Owing to shortage of space, its office accommodation extends into Portcullis House.

Bradford West (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Bradford West is a constituency of the city of Bradford represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Naz Shah, of the Labour Party.

Contents

It was unexpectedly [1] won by George Galloway of the Respect Party who defeated the Labour Party candidate by a large margin in a result referred to by Galloway as the "Bradford Spring" (by analogy with the Arab Spring). [2] Galloway said the election result was Bradford's "peaceful democratic uprising" version of the riots which swept through England in August 2011. [3]

George Galloway British politician, broadcaster, and writer

George Galloway is a British politician, broadcaster and writer. Between 1987 and 2015, with a gap in 2010–12, he represented four constituencies as a Member of Parliament, elected as a candidate for the Labour Party and later the Respect Party.

The Respect Party was a left-wing to far-left political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and nineteen councillors in local government.

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom which has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights.

The result was such a surprise so as to cause the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust to commission a report to study the campaign. [4] [5]

Background

On 29 February 2012, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Bradford West, Marsha Singh, announced his intention to resign due to "serious illness." [6] His most recent contribution in the House of Commons came in October 2009. [7] As MPs cannot officially resign from the House of Commons, Singh was appointed to the role of Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, thus disqualifying him from the House. [8]

Marsha Singh British politician

Marsha Singh was a British Labour Party politician, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West from 1997 to 2012. Singh stood down due to ill health.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Senior official in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom responsible for economic and financial matters

The Chancellor and Under-Treasurer of Her Majesty's Exchequer, commonly known as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or simply the Chancellor, is a senior official within the Government of the United Kingdom and head of Her Majesty's Treasury. The office is a British Cabinet-level position.

On 6 March 2012, a motion to issue the writ for the by-election was successfully moved by Shadow Chief Whip Rosie Winterton, setting polling day as 29 March. [9] Nominations closed at 4 pm on Wednesday 14 March. [10]

Chief Whip position

The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures whose task is to administer the whipping system that tries to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.

Rosie Winterton British politician

Dame Rosalie Winterton, is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster Central in 1997. Since June 2017, Winterton has served as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means. She served under Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the Minister for Work and Pensions from 2008 to 2009, and the Minister for Local Government from 2009 to 2010. She later entered the Shadow Cabinet in May 2010 as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. In September 2010, she was nominated and elected unopposed as Labour Chief Whip and served in the post until October 2016. She was elected as one of three deputy speakers of the House of Commons on 28 June 2017.

Candidates

The Statement of Persons Nominated was released by the City of Bradford Council on 15 March. [11]

City of Bradford City and Metropolitan borough in England

The City of Bradford is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden and Denholme. Bradford has a population of 528,155, making it the fourth-most populous metropolitan district and the sixth-most populous local authority district in England. It forms part of the West Yorkshire Urban Area conurbation which in 2001 had a population of 1.5 million and the city is part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone (LUZ), which, with a population of 2,393,300, is the fourth largest in the United Kingdom after London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Former MP George Galloway confirmed on 6 March that he would stand on behalf of the Respect Party, and later that day UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage announced that their candidate was Sonja McNally, a former Green Party council candidate. [12] [13] On 8 March, the Liberal Democrats chose Bradford City councillor Jeanette Sunderland to be their candidate, and the Conservatives chose businesswoman and former Rotherham 2010 general election candidate Jackie Whiteley. [14] [15] Labour chose Imran Hussain, the Deputy Leader of Bradford City Council, to be its candidate on 11 March. [16]

On 9 March, the Green Party announced that their candidate would be Dawud Islam, [17] a former Labour councillor and former Green local election candidate. [18] The candidate for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Alan Hope, has contested seats on fourteen occasions, parliamentary elections and by-elections. [19] Hope used the ballot paper description "Monster Raving Loony William Hill Party" as part of a sponsorship deal. A meeting of the Democratic Nationalists held in Burnley confirmed that Neil Craig was standing for the party as he had done at the 2010 general election. [20]

Results

ElectionPolitical resultCandidatePartyVotes%±%
Bradford West by-election, 2012
Resignation of Marsha Singh
Turnout: 32,814 (50.8%) -14.1		 Respect gain from Labour
Majority: 10,140 (30.9%)
Swing: 36.6 [21] % from Lab to Respect 		George Galloway Respect 18,34155.9+52.8
Imran Hussain Labour 8,20125.0-20.3
Jackie Whiteley Conservative 2,7468.4-22.7
Jeanette Sunderland Liberal Democrat 1,5054.6-7.1
Sonja McNally UKIP 1,0853.3+1.3
Dawud Islam Green 4811.5-0.8
Neil Craig Democratic Nationalists3441.0-0.1
Howling Laud Hope Monster Raving Loony 1110.3N/A

Galloway's election as MP was the first occasion that the main opposition party has lost a seat in a by-election since the May 2000 Romsey by-election (when the Conservatives lost to the Liberal Democrats). [22] It was also among the largest swings against the incumbent party in the same time period. [23] Respect's increase in its share of the vote, 52.8%, was also among the largest in the history of mainland British parliamentary by-elections since the introduction of universal suffrage.

Campaign

Hussain, the Labour candidate, declared that he would not attend any of the hustings with other candidates, concentrating instead on meeting the electorate. Several senior Labour politicians, including Ed Miliband, Dennis Skinner, Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls, visited the constituency to support his campaign. [24]

Galloway's campaign sought to capitalise on discontent with the local Labour party and tension in the Asian community. He criticised the claimed role of Baradari (brotherhood) an Urdu word denoting a hierarchical system of clan politics) in the area's local politics, particularly the local Labour party. He said that Baradari was responsible for "second- and third-rate politicians particularly but not exclusively from the Labour party being elected to the city council on the basis not of ability, not of ideas, not on records of experience but on whether their father came from the same village as someone else's father 50 or 60 years ago". Naweed Hussain, a campaign manager for the former Labour MP Singh over the previous three general elections, defected and became a campaign manager for Galloway, complaining that Labour had been "bypassing democracy" in the seat. Imran Hussain dismissed claims of Baradari. [24]

The Times correspondent Michael Savage noticed that Galloway referred "heavily to his quasi-Islamic values in his campaign literature. One leaflet [25] proclaimed that 'God KNOWS who is a Muslim and he KNOWS who is not. I, George Galloway, do not drink and never have." [26] Galloway initially said that the photocopied leaflet in question, which did not, as electoral law requires, include the Respect logo, agent's name or address, had not been produced by him. He did however make similar comments in his campaign rally, saying 'I’m a better Pakistani than he [Mr Hussain] will ever be. God knows who’s a Muslim and who is not. And a man that’s never out of the pub shouldn’t be going around telling people you should vote for him because he’s a Muslim.' [27] Galloway's election agent subsequently accepted that the leaflet had Galloway's approval. [28] Decca Aitkenhead, in a Guardian interview published near the end of April 2012, wrote: "Contrary to every report I've read, he doesn't deny writing the leaflet himself". [29] The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK), which campaigned for Galloway, were involved in promoting the insinuations against Hussain over his reputed drinking of alcohol. [30]

In an article for The Times, the Labour MP Diane Abbott argued that the result was not one of "identity" politics: "If Muslim voters in Bradford West were going to back someone who shared their ethnic identity, they would have voted for the excellent Labour candidate, who happens to be a local Muslim councillor. Furthermore, George won heavily in every ward, including many that were not majority Muslims." [31]

Aftermath

Respect stood a total of 12 candidates in the May 2012 local elections in Bradford, although the party had said they would stand candidates in all 30 wards. Five Respect councillors were elected.

The Green by-election candidate Dawud Islam defected to Respect on 3 April 2012. [32]

Past result

ElectionPolitical resultCandidatePartyVotes%±%
General election 2010   [33] [34]
New boundaries
Turnout: 40,576 (64.9%) +8.9		 Labour hold
Majority: 5,763 (14.2%)
Swing: 2.9% from Con to Lab 		Marsha Singh Labour 18,40145.3+5.6
Zahid Iqbal Conservative 12,63831.1−0.2
David Hall-Matthews Liberal Democrat 4,73211.7−7.4
Jenny Sampson BNP 1,3703.4−3.5
Arshad Ali Respect 1,2453.1+3.1
David Ford Green 9402.3−0.7
Jason Smith UKIP 8122.0+2.0
Neil Craig Democratic Nationalists4381.1+1.1

See also

Related Research Articles

Bethnal Green and Bow (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997 onwards

Bethnal Green and Bow /ˈbɛθnl̩ ɡɹiːn ənd bəʊ/, /ˈbeθ-/, /ˈbɛfnəw ɡɹiːn ən bəʊ/ is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.

Bradford Moor electoral ward of Bradford City Council

Bradford Moor is an electoral ward within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 21,210. The ward includes the areas of Laisterdyke and Thornbury.

City (ward) electoral ward of Bradford City Council

City is an electoral ward within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

Great Horton electoral ward of Bradford City Council

Great Horton is a ward within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The population of the ward increased to 17,683 at the 2011 Census.

Afzal Khan (British politician) English politician

Mohammed Afzal Khan, is a British Labour Party politician who serves as a Member of Parliament for the Manchester Gorton constituency, after his election on 8 June 2017. He was formerly Lord Mayor of Manchester for 2005–2006, and a Member of the European Parliament representing North West England from 2014–2017.

Barādarī or Birādrī means Brotherhood originating from the Persian word برادر Baradar meaning "Brother". In India, Bangladesh and Pakistan it is used to denote a number of social strata among South Asian Muslims. According to author Anatol Lieven, "the most important force in [Pakistani] society" are Baradari, usually far stronger than any competing religious, ethnic, or ideological cause. Parties and political alliances in Pakistan are based on Baradari, not ideology.

2012 Manchester Central by-election

The Manchester Central by-election was a by-election for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom constituency of Manchester Central held on Thursday 15 November 2012.

2012 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

The 2012 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election took place on 3 May 2012. The elections took place shortly after the Bradford West by-election, in which the Respect Party's George Galloway pulled off a shock victory against the incumbent Labour Party. Held alongside was a referendum on directly elected mayors. The Labour Party were one seat short of an overall majority following the election, leaving the council in no overall control.

2010 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council elections took place on Thursday 6 May. The 2010 General Election was held simultaneously, which greatly increased the turnout.

2016 London mayoral election

The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of Mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in London. The election used a supplementary vote system.

2015 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

The 2015 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election took place on 7 May 2015. This was on the same day as other local elections and a general election. One councillor was elected in each ward for a four-year term so the councillors elected in 2015 last stood for election in 2011. Each ward is represented by three councillors, the election of which is staggered, so only one third of the councillors were elected in this election. Labour retained overall control of the council.

2015 Cheshire West and Chester Council election

The 2015 Cheshire West and Chester Council election took place on 7 May 2015, electing members of Cheshire West and Chester Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections across the country as well as the general election.

Salma Yaqoob British politician

Salma Sultana Yaqoob is a British political activist and psychotherapist. She was formerly associated with the Respect Party, of which she was leader and vice-chairman, and a Birmingham City Councillor representing that party. She is the head of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque. On 11 September 2012, Yaqoob confirmed that she had left Respect.

Naz Shah British Labour MP

Naseem Shah is a British Labour Party politician. She was elected at the 2015 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West, winning the seat from George Galloway of the Respect Party.

Imran Hussain is a British Labour Party politician and a barrister. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bradford East after gaining the seat from the Liberal Democrats, in the 2015 general election.

2016 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

The 2016 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election took place on 5 May 2016. This was on the same day as other local elections. One councillor was elected in each ward for a four-year term. Each ward is represented by three councillors, the election of which is staggered, so only one third of the councillors were elected in this election.

2018 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council election

The 2018 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Bradford District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One councillor was elected in each ward for a four-year term so the councillors elected in 2018 last stood for election in 2014. Each ward is represented by three councillors, the election of which is staggered, so only one third of the councillors were elected in this election. Before the election there was a Labour majority and afterwards Labour had increased their majority.

References

  1. ↑ "Bookies lose out in Galloway rout". The Independent. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "Labour licks its wounds after 'Bradford spring'". The Guardian. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  3. ↑ "This was Bradford's version of the riots". The Guardian. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  4. ↑ Kayte Rath (28 January 2013). "George Galloway Bradford West victory a 'cry for help' from voters". BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Lewis Baston (January 2013). The Bradford Earthquake (PDF) (Report). Democratic Audit. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Bradford West MP Marsha Singh to stand down BBC News 1 March 2012
  7. ↑ Appearance search results Theyworkforyou.com
  8. ↑ Three Hundreds of Chiltern – Press Release HM Treasury
  9. ↑ "Writ moved for the Bradford West by-election". parliament.uk. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  10. ↑ "Bradford and Metropolitan District Council | Parliamentary By-Election – 29 March 2012" . Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Statement of Persons Nominated Bradford City Council
  12. ↑ Former MP George Galloway to stand in Bradford West BBC News
  13. ↑ Big Brother George in bid to be Bradford MP Yorkshire Post
  14. ↑ Jeanette Sunderland selected to fight Bradford West LibDemVoice.org
  15. ↑ "The Conservative candidate for the Bradford West by-election is Jackie Whiteley Tory MPs". Conservativehome.blogs.com. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  16. ↑ Bradford West shortlist Labourlist
  17. ↑ "The Green Party candidate for Bradford West picked". BBC. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  18. ↑ "Dawud Islam standing for Bradford West". Yorkshire and Humber Green Party. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  19. ↑ Bradford West UK Polling
  20. ↑ "Nationalist Unity in Burnley : England First Party". Efp.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  21. ↑ George Galloway wins Bradford West by-election, The Daily Telegraph
  22. ↑ "BBC News - George Galloway wins Bradford West by-election". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  23. ↑ Andy McSmith "Andy McSmith's Diary: Respect MP George Galloway needs to work on his swing", The Independent, 26 March 2015
  24. 1 2 Bradford West byelection: George Galloway shakes up Labour relations, by Helen Pidd, The Guardian, 27 March 2012
  25. ↑ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q47q0Pwgsn0/T3QZfonHdPI/AAAAAAAAH_M/iA8ub8WX2HY/s1600/Galloway%2BMuslim%2Bletter.jpg
  26. ↑ Michael Savage, Galloway bounces back with shock by-election win in safe Labour seat, pages 8-9, The Times, Saturday 30 March 2012
  27. ↑ "A runaway victory for George Galloway – and all praise to Allah". Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  28. ↑ Pidd, Helen (22 November 2012). "Labour complains to police over leaflet's 'closet racists' claim". The Guardian.
  29. ↑ Aitkenhead, Decca (29 April 2016). "George Galloway: 'I believe that on judgment day, people have to answer for what they did'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  30. ↑ Gilligan, Andrew (30 March 2012). "A runaway victory for George Galloway – and all praise to Allah – Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  31. ↑ Diane Abbott, A doughty campaigner who can't be written off, page 9, The Times, Saturday 31 March 2012
  32. ↑ Dawud Islam Press Release, Facebook
  33. ↑ "Bradford West constituency: statement as to persons nominated and notice of poll" (PDF). Bradford City Council. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  34. ↑ "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Bradford West". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.