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George Galloway wins a by-election

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Clip

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17549388

By 10K votes. Labour had a 5K majority before he had to step down because of ill health but that is a massive result for Galloways respect party.

Been listening to 5 live through the night and not one pundit ever expected it..

Crazy times though it should be noted that in reports and interviews there was a lot more of the youth vote turning out then normal so thats where he got it won they reckon.

Still though thats amazing.
 
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PaxVobiscum

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I suspect he's actually working under cover for the SNP as part of the long term campaign to irritate the rest of Britain in to demanding independence for Scotland. Bradford will rue the day he was elected - in no time at all the good people of Bradford will unite in a cry of "Go back to your own country, George!" :D
 

table38

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Apparently Milliband E had booked a press conference, presumably ready for a big crow about how the Bradford West result vindicated Labours approach and how this was the public giving their verdict on the coalition.

Oddly, he is nowhere to be seen this morning :)
 

Schnellzug

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obviously the single-issue card works in some areas; in this, appealing to the Muslim vote. It's the same as how (for instance) U.S. Politicians will find the Irish or the Jewish vote lucrative. It's a strategy that will work in certain cases, but probably wouldn't translate to any significant numbers of seats nationally.
 

Oswyntail

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obviously the single-issue card works in some areas; in this, appealing to the Muslim vote. It's the same as how (for instance) U.S. Politicians will find the Irish or the Jewish vote lucrative. It's a strategy that will work in certain cases, but probably wouldn't translate to any significant numbers of seats nationally.
I think there is also an element of a community fed up with being treated as "vote fodder". Labour seem to have thought that, just by having a candidate with an "Ethnic" name they were guaranteed the "Ethnic" vote. Critically, like all the most successful extremists, Galloway is very good at nosing out the most inflammatory concerns within the target community and building them into the "issues" of the election.
 

tbtc

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Five years ago I could have written off the result as being to do with "the war on terror" (as its euphamistically called), but now we are out of Iraq I'd have expected some of that resentment to have dissapated.

It seems that things remain as raw as before (which gorgeous George has tapped into).

Worrying.
 

table38

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Some would say that Ken is trying to do exactly the same thing in London, having calculated that the Islamic vote is worth more to him than the Jewish or Gay vote.
 

Oswyntail

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It might be worth considering that over 10,000 postal votes were registered (according to Look North this lunchtime). These have caused problems and freak results in the past. It is also probably wrong to think of this in terms of "the Asian vote" being behind George, as the Bradford labour hierarchy is "Asian" dominated and would have thought it could have relied on its usual machine. This is undoubtedly a split within the community, and it remains to be seen what actually caused it.
 

Ferret

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Apparently Milliband E had booked a press conference, presumably ready for a big crow about how the Bradford West result vindicated Labours approach and how this was the public giving their verdict on the coalition.

Oddly, he is nowhere to be seen this morning :)

Just when he looked like he was making headway, a swift reality check. Doomed never to lead the Country...
 

table38

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Some would say a weak opposition is actually bad for democracy.

Actually an incompetent opposition is probably worse, as despite vowing to vote against the 50p tax cut, most Labour MPs didn't bother.

They will no doubt have that thrown back in their faces by the coalition at a suitably opportune moment in the future!
 

Ferret

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Some would say a weak opposition is actually bad for democracy.

Actually an incompetent opposition is probably worse, as despite vowing to vote against the 50p tax cut, most Labour MPs didn't bother.

They will no doubt have that thrown back in their faces by the coalition at a suitably opportune moment in the future!

A weak opposition is bad - that's partly why Labour were able to behave as they did for nearly a decade, with some of their ruinous policies which we are now reaping the 'dividends' of. And I suspect history may be repeating itself...

 

142094

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BBC News report showed him getting egged today. Unfortunately they missed the target.
 

Butts

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Whatever people think of Galloway at least he has some charisma and the ability to provoke a lively debate, far more so than some faceless Labour yuppie parachuted in from Millbank (whatever their colour)

He was a Labour MP in times gone past and I used to listen to him on Talk Radio. He was great at cutting callers off but to be fair he used to have Tory politicians on as well as other varieties.

Lembit Opik needs back in as well, he's always good for a p**s take

The more colourful characters the better :p
 

Ferret

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Galloway. Obviously not universally popular in that bit of West Yorkshire. No doubt will be voted out at the next election.

I'm not so sure - I can see a lot of smaller parties picking up seats at the next Election - the likes of Respect and the Greens. Alas (and it pains me to utter these words!), Galloway is right - many people are p###ed off with the 3 main parties.
 

tbtc

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Galloway. Obviously not universally popular in that bit of West Yorkshire. No doubt will be voted out at the next election.

I suspect that you are right about the next election (given the large number of Labour people who just didn't bother voting last night, who may well come back to the party at a "proper" election), but our current voting system favours "marmite" candidates like Galloway who attract a chunk of voters (but a big number hate) - all you need to do is attract 40% of voters (even if 60% detest you).

But last night was a failure for all the big parties (e.g. the LibDems losing their deposit) - maybe its just a flash in the pan but the next by-election will be watched a lot more carefully!
 

142094

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I'm not reading too much into it, as Labour had done very well in the previous by-elections, and Bradford West is not a normal seat/area.
 

LE Greys

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So he's finally stopped moonlighting as an East Coast guard...

Seriously though, it's more than just the fact that people are fed up with the three main parties, they're fed up with politics. If, for instance, the government had stuck to its guns over the hot food issue (e.g. "We're doing this because we believe that pasties are unhealthy and anyway it levels the playing field with takeaways") instead of falling over themselves to show how many pasties they eat, then people might respect them. Silly games over fuel strikes just to be seen to be doing something or get at the other side are just as bad. That's why they voted for an alternative.
 

blanco

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the thing that really got me when watching his victory speech was, what the hell was the man to galloways right thinking when he got dressed and left the house that day, he looked like a dukes of hazard extra.
 

Liam

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the thing that really got me when watching his victory speech was, what the hell was the man to galloways right thinking when he got dressed and left the house that day, he looked like a dukes of hazard extra.

I would expect nothing less from Howling Laud Hope, of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
 

Butts

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I would expect nothing less from Howling Laud Hope, of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.

At least he was sporting a "hoagie" on his victory tour.

Reason for his victory as mentioned before the young "asian vote" rebelled against their parents "cannon fodder" Labour patronage.
 

WatcherZero

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He did some dirty campaigning too, wrote a letter to mosques saying he had never drunk alcohol or gambled in his life but saying the same could not be said for his muslim opponent. When interviewed on TV later he said he was not a muslim but would not say whether he was christian or not as it was private.
 

Schnellzug

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So he's finally stopped moonlighting as an East Coast guard...

Seriously though, it's more than just the fact that people are fed up with the three main parties, they're fed up with politics. If, for instance, the government had stuck to its guns over the hot food issue (e.g. "We're doing this because we believe that pasties are unhealthy and anyway it levels the playing field with takeaways") instead of falling over themselves to show how many pasties they eat, then people might respect them. .

And would anyone have believed that either? Sanctimoniousness about about wanting to put up the price on something "because it's unhealthy" is just as hypocritical as putting up the price of Petrol "because we want to discourage the use of Motor Vehicles to Protect the Environment", or "we want to snoop on everyone's phone and email conversations to Protect the Public from Terrorism". I'm afraid - or rather, I very much hope - that no one swallows that any more.
 

MidnightFlyer

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He did some dirty campaigning too, wrote a letter to mosques saying he had never drunk alcohol or gambled in his life but saying the same could not be said for his muslim opponent. When interviewed on TV later he said he was not a muslim but would not say whether he was christian or not as it was private.

I may be reading too much into this but surely in that case he is doing to the Asian ethnic minority / Muslim population what the BNP does for the white population, i.e. sell themselves on one basis to them? Obviously the BNP are totally different, but the tactics aren't...
 
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