2012 Bradford West by-election

Election in Bradford West March 2012 September 2020 2012 Bradford West by-election parliamentary no 2010 United Kingdom general election 2010 2015 United Kingdom general election 2015 2012 03 29 y Bradford West constituency 50.8% ( 14.7 pp) George Galloway (3184599409) (cropped).jpg George Galloway Respect Party 18,341 55.9% 52.8 pp Official portrait of Imran Hussain MP 2024 (cropped).jpg Imran Hussain Labour Party (UK) 8,201 25.0% 20.3 pp Jackie Whiteley David Cameron Crop.jpg Jackie Whiteley Conservative Party (UK) 2,746 8.4% 22.7 pp MP Marsha Singh Labour Party (UK) Subsequent MP George Galloway Respect Party A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Bradford West was held on 29 March 2012, following the resignation of incumbent Labour Party MP Marsha Singh on health grounds. It was won by George Galloway of the Respect Party in what was considered a major upset, defeating Labour candidate Imran Hussain. Galloway referred to the result as the "Bradford Spring", saying it was Bradford's "peaceful democratic uprising" version of the riots which swept through England in August 2011. Respect's increase in its share of the vote, 52.8%, was the second-highest in recorded British parliamentary by-election history. Background Constituency Bradford West covers the western areas of the City of Bradford local government district, including the city centre. Suburbs include Clayton, Heaton, Manningham, Toller, Thornton and Allerton. Trigger On 29 February 2012, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Bradford West, Marsha Singh, announced his intention to resign due to "serious illness";https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17218405 Bradford West MP Marsha Singh to stand down BBC News 1 March 2012 6 March 2012 he died four months later.http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9821832.Tributes_are_paid_as_former_Bradford_MP_Marsha_Singh_dies/ Bradford Telegraph and Argus 18 July 2012 Tributes are paid as former Bradford MP Marsha Singh dies O'Rourke Tanya His most recent contribution in the House of Commons came in October 2009.https://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?pid=10543&pop=1 Appearance search results Theyworkforyou.com 6 March 2012 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.http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_17_12.htm Three Hundreds of Chiltern HM Treasury 6 March 2012 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.http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2012/march/marsha-singh-stands-down-as-mp/ Writ moved for the Bradford West by-election 6 March 2012 parliament.uk 8 March 2012 Nominations closed at 4 pm on Wednesday 14 March.http://www.bradford.gov.uk/bmdc/government_politics_and_public_administration/democracy_and_elections/Parliamentary_ByElection_29_March_2012 Bradford Metropolitan District Council | Parliamentary By-Election – 29 March 2012 9 March 2012 Candidates The Statement of Persons Nominated was released by the City of Bradford Council on 15 March.http://www.bradford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A57E2517-0DF3-45A0-88A8-190A85006530/0/StatementofPersonsNominated.pdf Statement of Persons Nominated Bradford City Council 15 March 2012 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.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-17268770 Former MP George Galloway to stand in Bradford West BBC News 6 March 2012http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/big-brother-george-galloway-in-bid-to-be-bradford-mp-1-4315091 Big Brother George in bid to be Bradford MP Yorkshire Post 6 March 2012 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.http://www.libdemvoice.org/jeanette-sunderland-selected-to-fight-bradford-west-for-the-liberal-democrats-27465.html Jeanette Sunderland selected to fight Bradford West LibDemVoice.org 8 March 2012http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2012/03/the-tory-candidate-for-the-bradford-west-by-election-is-jackiewhiteley.html The Conservative candidate for the Bradford West by-election is Jackie Whiteley Tory MPs Conservativehome.blogs.com 8 March 2012 28 March 2012 Labour chose Imran Hussain, the Deputy Leader of Bradford City Council, to be its candidate on 11 March.http://labourlist.org/2012/03/bradford-west-shortlist/ Bradford West shortlist Labourlist 10 March 2012 On 9 March, the Green Party announced that their candidate would be Dawud Islam,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-17325306 The Green Party candidate for Bradford West picked BBC News 10 March 2012 28 March 2012 a former Labour councillor and former Green local election candidate.http://yorkshireandhumber.greenparty.org.uk/region/yorkshireandhumber/news/dawud-islam-standing-for-bradford-west.html https://archive.today/20121224005128/http://yorkshireandhumber.greenparty.org.uk/region/yorkshireandhumber/news/dawud-islam-standing-for-bradford-west.html dead 24 December 2012 Dawud Islam standing for Bradford West Yorkshire and Humber Green Party 2 April 2012 The candidate for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Alan Hope, has contested seats on fourteen occasions, parliamentary elections and by-elections.http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/bradfordwest/ Bradford West UK Polling 15 March 2012 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.http://efp.org.uk/nationalist-unity-in-burnley/ Nationalist Unity in Burnley : England First Party Efp.org.uk 30 March 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20131118051451/http://efp.org.uk/nationalist-unity-in-burnley/ 18 November 2013 dead Result 2012 Bradford West by-election Respect Party George Galloway 18,341 55.9 +52.8 Labour Party (UK) Imran Hussain 8,201 25.0 –20.3 Conservative Party (UK) Jackie Whiteley 2,746 8.4 –22.7 Liberal Democrats (UK) Jeanette Sunderland 1,505 4.6 –7.1 UK Independence Party Sonja McNally 1,085 3.3 +1.3 Green Party of England and Wales Dawud Islam 481 1.5 –0.8 Democratic Nationalists Neil Craig 344 1.0 –0.1 Official Monster Raving Loony Party Howling Laud Hope 111 0.3 New 10,140 30.9 N/A 32,814 50.8 –14.7 48,958 Respect Party Labour Party (UK) +52.8 Galloway's election as MP was unexpected.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bookies-lose-out-in-galloway-rout-7602911.html Bookies lose out in Galloway rout Sculthorpe Tim 30 March 2012 The Independent 30 March 2012 31 March 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120331234608/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bookies-lose-out-in-galloway-rout-7602911.html deadhttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/mar/30/george-galloway-bradford-spring-labour Labour licks its wounds after 'Bradford spring' Pidd Helen 30 March 2012 The Guardian 30 March 2012https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/30/bradford-version-of-riots This was Bradford's version of the riots Galloway George 30 March 2012 The Guardian 30 March 2012 It was the first occasion that the main opposition party has lost a seat in a by-election since the 2000 Romsey by-election—when the Conservatives lost to the Liberal Democratshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17549388 George Galloway wins Bradford West by-election BBC News 30 March 2012 30 March 2012—and was also among the largest swings against the incumbent party in the same time period.Andy McSmith https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-mcsmiths-diary-respect-mp-george-galloway-needs-to-work-on-his-swing-10137061.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-mcsmiths-diary-respect-mp-george-galloway-needs-to-work-on-his-swing-10137061.html 1 May 2022 subscription live Andy McSmith's Diary: Respect MP George Galloway needs to work on his swing The Independent 26 March 2015 14 April 2015 The result was such a surprise as to cause the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust to commission a report to study the campaign.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21230275 George Galloway Bradford West victory a 'cry for help' from voters Kayte Rath BBC News 28 January 2013 29 January 2013http://www.jrrt.org.uk/sites/jrrt.org.uk/files/documents/bradford-earthquake-full-report-web.pdf The Bradford Earthquake Lewis Baston Democratic Audit January 2013 29 January 2013 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.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/mar/27/george-galloway-bradford-west-byelection Bradford West byelection: George Galloway shakes up Labour relations Helen Pidd The Guardian 27 March 2012 28 March 2012 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, an Urdu word literally meaning "brotherhood" that denotes a hierarchical system of clan politics, in corrupting 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. The Times correspondent Michael Savage noticed that Galloway referred "heavily to his quasi-Islamic values in his campaign literature. One leaflethttps://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q47q0Pwgsn0/T3QZfonHdPI/AAAAAAAAH_M/iA8ub8WX2HY/s1600/Galloway%2BMuslim%2Bletter.jpg An Important message from George Galloway George Galloway 1 April 2012 The voters of the Muslim faith and Pakistani heritage in Bradford West proclaimed that 'God KNOWS who is a Muslim and he KNOWS who is not. I, George Galloway, do not drink and never have."https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/galloway-bounces-back-with-shock-by-election-win-in-bradford-spring-bz38nt3d9rq Galloway bounces back with shock by-election win in safe Labour seat Savage Michael 30 March 2012 8–9 The Times 5 June 2020 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 made 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."https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9176195/A-runaway-victory-for-George-Galloway-and-all-praise-to-Allah.html A runaway victory for George Galloway – and all praise to Allah The Daily Telegraph 2 April 2012 Galloway's election agent subsequently accepted that the leaflet had Galloway's approval.Pidd Helen https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/nov/22/labour-police-leaflet-racists-claim Labour complains to police over leaflet's 'closet racists' claim The Guardian 22 November 2012 30 May 2013 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".Aitkenhead Decca https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/apr/29/george-galloway-interview-bradford-west George Galloway: 'I believe that on judgment day, people have to answer for what they did' The Guardian 29 April 2016 19 December 2016 The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK), which campaigned for Galloway, were involved in promoting the insinuations against Hussain over his reputed drinking of alcohol.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9176195/A-runaway-victory-for-George-Galloway-and-all-praise-to-Allah.html A runaway victory for George Galloway – and all praise to Allah The Daily Telegraph 4 April 2012 London Andrew Gilligan 30 March 2012 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."https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/scotland-travel/a-doughty-campaigner-who-cant-be-written-off-vnh7tcqmbgj Diane Abbott A doughty campaigner who can't be written off 9 The Times 31 March 2012 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 candidate Dawud Islam defected to Respect on 3 April 2012, five days after the by-election.http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002429772477#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=258968497527474&id=100002429772477 Dawud Islam Facebook 8 April 2012 Previous election result 2010 United Kingdom general election: Bradford Westhttp://www.bradford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/52CE0E18-798D-4F40-BCA3-3623EDB1A95F/0/BradfordWestStatementofPersonsNominated.pdf Bradford West constituency: statement as to persons nominated and notice of poll Bradford City Council 5 July 2010http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/a60.stm UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Bradford West 7 May 2010 Election 2010 BBC 13 May 2010 Labour Party (UK) Marsha Singh 18,401 45.3 +5.6 Conservative Party (UK) Zahid Iqbal 12,638 31.1 −0.2 Liberal Democrats (UK) David Hall-Matthews 4,732 11.7 −7.4 British National Party Jenny Sampson 1,370 3.4 –3.5 Respect Party Arshad Ali 1,245 3.1 New Green Party of England and Wales David Ford 940 2.3 −0.7 UK Independence Party Jason Smith 812 2.0 New Democratic Nationalists Neil Craig 438 1.1 New 5,763 14.2 +5.8 40,576 64.9 +8.9 Labour Party (UK) +2.9 See also List of United Kingdom by-elections References 30em Bradford West by-election Bradford West by-election Bradford West by-election Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Bradford constituencies Category:2010s in West Yorkshire Category:George Galloway