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George Galloway | |
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| Born | 16 August 1954 Dunde, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Political party | Workers Party of Britain |
George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer serving as the leader of the Workers Party of Britain since 2019 and as the founder and lead spokesman of All for Unity since 2020. He currently presents The Mother of All Talk Shows on Radio Sputnik, Sputnik on RT UK, and Kalima Horra on Al-Mayadeen. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) for four constituencies, first for the Labour Party and later the Respect Party, the latter of which he joined in 2004 and led from 2013 until its dissolution in 2016.
Leader of the Workers Party of Britain[edit | edit source]
2021 Batley and Spen by-election[edit | edit source]
As leader of the Workers Party of Britain (WPB), Galloway led the election campaign for the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election. Polling suggested that the Workers Party would gain just 6% of the vote share,[1] which turned out to be a "radical underestimate".[2] The Workers Party won almost 22% of the vote, with Labour winning with a majority of just 323 votes.[3] Galloway said he would take legal action to challenge the by-election result.[4]
2024 Rochdale by-election[edit | edit source]
On 29 February 2024, Galloway stood as a candidate in the Rochdale bi-election and won the seat with 12,335 votes (39.7%) giving him a 5,697-vote majority.[5] In his by-election campaign Galloway sent two different letters to constituents depending on whether the household was Muslim or White. The letter sent to white people contained reactionary views such as transphobia and British nationalism, whilst the letter to Muslim households capitalised on Labour's refusal to support Palestine against Israel, by supporting the Palestinian resistance.[6]
Labelling as Russia state-affiliated media[edit | edit source]
On the 6th April 2022, Galloway was labelled as "Russia state-affiliated media",[7] although he claims he did not present anything on Russian state-affiliated media (RT UK) at the time.[8] He claims this label is defamatory and in breach of his GDPR rights, and that his lawyers, KRW Law, have began proceedings against Twitter. He argues that even when he did present shows on RT, they were produced by Associated Press, and merely aired on RT.[9]
Transphobia[edit | edit source]
Galloway has long been infamous for his deep-rooted, far-right attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people and, in particular, trans people. On one occasion, he claimed that university students are "questioning a statement of the obvious that 'only women can menstruate'"[10] and declared that "If no-one else will stand up to this madness[,] I will", thereby helping to exclude non-women who menstruate (and trans people more generally) from the labour movement.
Links[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "Conservatives lead new polling for Batley and Spen By-election" (2021-06-18). Survation.
- ↑ "A strange amalgam" (2021-07-08). Weekly Worker.
- ↑ https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/3309/election/401
- ↑ Jon Stone (2021-06-02). "Batley and Spen: George Galloway says he will take legal action to challenge by-election defeat" Independent.
- ↑ Josh Halliday and Aneesa Ahmed (2024-03-01). "‘This is for Gaza’: George Galloway sweeps to victory in Rochdale byelection" The Guardian.
- ↑ @crowndefensx (2024-02-29). "GEORGE GALLOWAY HAS DIFFERENT CAMPAIGN LETTERS FOR WHITE AND MUSLIM HOUSEHOLDS IN ROCHDALE" Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ↑ Alex Hern (2022-04-10). "George Galloway threatens to sue Twitter for flagging account as Kremlin-linked" The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ↑ “I saw on Twitter, thought they did not inform me [...] that I had suddenly been stamped as Russian state-affiliated media. I've gone all these years without such a designation, even when I did present shows on RT and Sputnik. Now that I don't, can't, indeed it would be a criminal offence for me to so to do, present anything on Russian state-affiliated media, Twitter - under the new Elon Musk-era - has decided to give me that stamp”
George Galloway (2022-04-06). "The Galloway Show" YouTube. Retrieved 2022-04-22. - ↑ “[I]t is defamatory, it is a breach of my GDPR rights, and my lawyers, KRW Law, [...] have already begun proceedings. [...] Even when I had a show on RT, it wasn't made by RT, it was made by the American multi-national, Associated Press. They filmed it, they directed it, they produced it, and they edited it. It had nothing whatsoever to do with Russia, which never tried, and would never have been permitted by me if they had tried, to influence my subject matter or what I said in any case. So I was never Russia state-affiliated media, and I sure ain't now.”
George Galloway (2022-04-13). "The Galloway Show #3" YouTube. Retrieved 2022-04-22. - ↑ [1] Tweet from George Galloway
- ↑ @georgegalloway on Twitter: "Please follow me on @GETTRofficial"
