Why George Galloway’s Win Is Good For Politics

Congratulations to George Galloway for securing a huge victory in the Bradford West by-election; he is an inspiring speaker and a dedicated campaigner. This post talks briefly about what it is he stands for and why his election may have a positive impact in British politics.

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Galloway decisively won the Bradford West election with a total of over 18'000 votes. But sadly, Galloway's campaign methods do not set a good example for national unity and political ethics. His campaign included asking religious constituents how they would justify to God on Judgement Day not voting for “the guy who led the great campaign against the slaughter of millions of people,” and sending this letter to all Muslim households in Bradford West saying not to vote for the Labour candidate Imran Hussein, insinuating that he was not a proper Muslim.

For those not familiar with Galloway’s views, he stands for extreme left wing ideology including support for communist regimes; his campaigns for peace in the middle east have given him many links with controversial Islamic organisations - he has been banned from Canada, of all places, for explicitly supporting Hamas; he says that reports of gays being executed in Iran are false; and has pandered to many foreign dictators including saying that “Syria is very lucky to have Bashaar Al-Assad as her president.”

Galloway with other Respect party members

However, despite his radical views, Galloway’s success may actually be a positive turning point in British politics, for two reasons.

Firstly his victory highlights the fact that the anti-war sentiment in this country is big and real. We are tired of our involvement in foreign wars, and tired of being unquestionable allies of the USA, who are seen as being the aggressor in many parts of the world. Why should we pay for foreign wars at a time when  the government is being forced to cut domestic services and prices are rising at home. 

Secondly, and most importantly, Galloway’s election serves as a wakeup call for mainstream politicians still stuck in the 20th century. He said in a post election speech:

“There are very large numbers of people completely disenchanted and alienated from the political process and from the mainstream political parties”

Here he does have a point. The mainstream politicians cannot just continue shamelessly with 20th century politics and expect the youth of this country to keep voting for them. In this day and age, we can all access whatever information and opinion we wish on the internet, and if Labour and Conservatives fail to connect with voters then we can all get together in online forums and vote for another candidate. This realisation is a huge positive for British politics, and Galloway’s victory should be taken by the mainstream parties as very sobering example of this.

There are other up-and-coming political parties who are also expected to ride this wave of anti-mainstream political discontent. The UK Independence Party, for example, advocates more direct democracy for important issues such as foreign interventions like Iraq and Afghanistan, key moral issues, and constitutional changes like the European Union.

It is no longer acceptable for politicians to go to war in our name without asking our permission.