[The-Mughal-Sister]

George Galloway scored a dramatic victory in the Bradford West by-election, securing a 10,000-plus majority in what he called a "massive rejection" of mainstream parties.




He claimed the result represented a "Bradford spring".

"By the Grace of God we have won the most sensational victory in British political history," the maverick Respect candidate wrote on Twitter as votes were counted.

Respect swept from fifth place at the 2010 general election to a commanding victory for the ex-Labour anti-war campaigner against his former party on a swing of 36.59%.

It was "the most sensational result in British by-election history bar none", he said on stage after being declared the victor with well over half the total votes.

The reverse is a serious blow for Labour which entered polling day as overwhelming favourite to retain the seat at the end of a fraught week for the Government.

Instead, it became the first Opposition party to slump to defeat in a mid-term poll since the Liberal Democrats took Romsey from the Tories in 2000.

Party sources pointed to a massive slump in the Conservative vote as evidence of the Government's unpopularity. The Liberal Democrats lost their deposit.

Labour today pledged to learn from the stunning defeat.

Its press team tweeted: "Extraordinary result for Galloway.

"Disappointing we didn't get enough support across BW but we'll learn lessons & fight hard to win it back."

Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman admitted today: "It is a very bad result, there's no denying it."

For more: Source

Salma Yaqoob: "Respect's George Galloway is MP for #BradfordWest!! Most sensational result in by British by-election history. Thankyou Bradford!! "

George Galloway (Respect) 18,341 (55.89 per cent, +52.83 per cent)
- Imran Hussain (Lab) 8,201 (24.99 per cent, -20.36 per cent)
- Jackie Whiteley © 2,746 (8.37 per cent, -22.78 per cent)
- Jeanette Sunderland (LD) 1,505 (4.59 per cent, -7.08 per cent)
- Sonja McNally (UKIP) 1,085 (3.31 per cent, +1.31 per cent)
- Dawud Islam (Green) 481 (1.47 per cent, -0.85 per cent)


https://www.youtube....h?v=CyvlCWDeHdw

This post has been edited by The-Mughal-Sister: 30 March 2012 - 10:13 AM

[qalam]

salam


so the bengalis of london didnt respect him and the mirpuris of bradford have accepted him?


what does he hope to achieve?


dr aq

[Mudassar-Rana]

qalam, on 30 March 2012 - 10:33 AM, said:

salam


so the bengalis of london didnt respect him and the mirpuris of bradford have accepted him?



dr aq

I bet you were praying for a galloway victory just to get that line in!

[qalam]

salam

i am happy he is in. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
wait to see what he will or will not do




dr aq

i think iwill apply to work for him

[FSA]

Salaam

Well some night last night! Some contest! SubhanAllah.

Firstly. I guess Qalam Sahib got his wish, see here. I don't know who the respectable person who I saw carrying GG aloft on his shoulders on the Sky News footage is:





Moving on.

Nigel Farage of UKIP talking earlier today about 'sectarian politics'. Just a headline but you can listen again on radio 5 'your call' (this mornings edition):

Nigel Farage: Galloway victory is the beginning of religious voting in the UK

Many other issues and talking points once the celebration is over.

- Demagoguery

- The fall of the 'gate-keepers'. A Tory MP for Keighley said last night on local radio how previously the 'gate-keepers' (local party supporters - councillors/community leaders/elders??) were relied on by parties. He wasn't happy about the result but was pleased that the young people had participated in the elections. He said the 'gatekeepers'/elders weren't listened to by the youth.

Maybe GG/Respect may use this momentum and get Respect candidated into the council in May. Some Labour/Tory councillors will be very worried now.

- Is Bradford gonna be punished by the powers that be for this decision? Will it affect funding from central government?

Fill a little sorry for Imran Hussein, the Labour candidate. GG is a formidable foe. A consummate politician. Been there done it. He can hold his own against the big hitters. Imran Hussein was a rookie at this level.

Yesterday afternoon I had a giggle to myself as a campaign car drove outside and I heard a GG recorded message. Just as it passed outside I heard the words 'I am the finished article...'. Lol...GG was playing on this factor.

Btw sister TMS in case you missed the time-limited response to the Count of Monte Cristo thread:

http://www.yanabi.co...post__p__445587

Salaam

[Fatema-the-resplendent]

A win of more than 10,000 votes stolen from Labour; now that's what you call a landslide victory.

[Mudassar-Rana]

success has many fathers!

[Khalid_the_Warrior]

Hip hip horrayyyyyyy!!!!!

I'm happy for GG as he has done such a good work for the oppressed and he's the voice for so many of us.

He fought against the prejudice against Muslims,racism and islamophoia in this country.

Trust me this is a huge victory for him. Labour didn't saw it comming at all and it has taken them by surprise big time. Now just watch the media reaction. Instead of congratulation him on his victory they are coming with lame excuses.

[qalam]

Khalid_the_Warrior, on 30 March 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

Hip hip horrayyyyyyy!!!!!

I'm happy for GG as he has done such a good work for the oppressed and he's the voice for so many of us.

He fought against the prejudice against Muslims,racism and islamophoia in this country.

Trust me this is a huge victory for him. Labour didn't saw it comming at all and it has taken them by surprise big time. Now just watch the media reaction. Instead of congratulation him on his victory they are coming with lame excuses.

salam

what good will he do?

He failed he bengalis in londom who sent him packing and now he runs to the other large group the mirpooooris in bradford?

he wont last long there trust me


dr aq

[The-Mughal-Sister]

It's quite amazing how he slammed the other party and yet the media are giving him the 2nd degree about saying 'God willing' and if he is a Muslim or Christian and why he doesn't drink alcohol!!

Thank you Brother FSA for that link...I'm just listening to the review

[FSA]

Salaam

Is this the thread for 'inquest' or 'consequences'?

If not then we can move it to another thread. Community based politics worries me. On the By-election update thread you may have seen the 'Labour List' blog link (Labour's biggest independant grassroots e-network).

A couple of comments from there:

Quote

'' We’ve got to understand the reasons why that happened in Bradford.''To do that requires the intellectual honesty to look at the consequences of mass immigration and a deliberately policy of retarding intergration.Or else we could just imply that anyone who raises such issues is a bigot and refuse to discuss them, then act surprised when more than half the electorate votes for non 'mainstream' parties.

Quote

Really good statment {Miliband} I thought, struck the right tone. We have to accept the loss isn't good, but let's not shout disaster, it's a result of local relations and issues.

A response to this:

Quote

No, international relations and issues. Look at Galloway's leaflet to the mosques. He concentrated on Islam, Pakistan and wars in predominantly Muslim countries. His tweets after the election mentioned Palestine and Iraq.

http://labourlist.or...-learn-lessons/

Btw just noticed in the Bradfordwest update thread I missed some crucial words so I failed to portray an important point:

Should be:

'Presenter and guest on local radio commenting on GG claiming victory and mentioning 'free arab' (or similar) and not mentioning Bradford. Probably referring to these fresh tweets by GG (latest tweet first):'

http://www.yanabi.co...post__p__445629

NOTE: Just noticed the Yanabi.com Forum terms and rules updation thread in highlights section. Thanks for the reminder. I should lay off quoting blogs and tweets. I haven't a clue if this infringes copyright (even with link).

Salaam

[sunniskeptic]

GG is a very powerful speaker and a very clever man. I've been listening to his Talk Shows on radio for the
past few years weekly (until it got cancelled about a month ago.) and he has some interesting views but
I agree with Dr. Q. This will just exacerbate the divide in the community in Bradford between the Whites and
Pakis.

Even with the best intentions a single MP cannot do anything. Will he help break down the racial barriers
and integrate the communities better? Will he improve the pathetic results of the Muslims in education in that
area? Will he clean up the streets? Will he improve public healthcare access and help to provide jobs?

These are the things that matter for everyday people but GG being smart knew that by playing the religious
card and the Iraq/Iran/Palestine card he will get the dumb locals to vote for him in droves knowing full well
he cannot actually do a thing about any of those problems.

Our people are so naive sometimes I feel like crying.
The best thing to come out of it is that it has shocked Labour and hopefully Milliband will use this
to move the party to the Left. But I doubt it!

Still, happy for GG -- as far as politicians go he is a good man.

[sunniskeptic]

Oh and I don't really care so much coz I live down South!

[Mudassar-Rana]

Some of the positives to come out of this apart from George winning is that the youth identified with someone who actually speaks their language. They ignored their elders and the much maligned biradri system to bring in Galloway.

However it doesnt take away that much across our communities that the biradri system is destroying the culture of local democracy. Like most things that this community takes to we end up destroying it. The biradri system brings to the fore people mostly unfit to run local authorities and more fit to simply hand out taxi licenses to cronies. If we seek positive change then this could be a watershed moment for the muslim community to rise to the occasion and back people like george across our communities and get our voice heard in the corridors of power. At the moment the voice of the youth is silenced by elders putting relations in power for simple selfish gains - which if anything is responsible for alienating youth from islam and the positive things in our culture i.e community bonding.

[Khalid_the_Warrior]

Slave_of_the_Two_Husayns, on 30 March 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

Oh and I don't really care so much coz I live down South!

I too live down south but I care and would live GG to come back

[FSA]

Slave_of_the_Two_Husayns, on 30 March 2012 - 07:35 PM, said:

..by playing the religious
card and the Iraq/Iran/Palestine card he will get the dumb locals to vote for him in droves...

Salaam

I think that's a bit unfair. I understand from the outside it may appear like that. There was nobody else to really vote for. Imran Hussein is a newbie at this level and his popularity on the street may be questionable too. He is also uninspiring. The previous MP was liked by all. This by-election GG stood out by miles.

As to your general point I think with the lack of inspiring candidates then why not vote for GG who may at least be a strong voice in parliament and raise the profile for Bradford even though as you say he may not be able to do much on certain things. We'll have to wait and see.

I feel good. A new MP. A new start. He lifted Bradford's spirits, gave us hope and optimism. There is a spring in my step.

MR said:

Quote

success has many fathers!

I asked someone about this yesterday. If my information is accurate then the individual in post #5 is just a local business owner. A travel business (holy lands). The person is probably not a Pir Sahib or similar.

Salaam