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Galloways' victory in Bradford - 3/31/2012 11:19:20 PM

tweakabelle

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It has been described as the most stunning upset in British electoral history. Maverick George Galloway won the seat of Bradford East with an astonishing 36% swing away from opposition Labour, and routing the Tory and Lib Dem parties - reducing both partners in the ruling coalition to single digits.

Is this a freak result or a sign of things to come? Why did Galloway win so convincingly? What will be the impact of this result on UK politics?

I'd love to hear the views of UK posters on this phenomenon.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 3/31/2012 11:39:47 PM

Kirata

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quote:

ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

It has been described as the most stunning upset in British electoral history. Maverick George Galloway won the seat of Bradford East with an astonishing 36% swing away from opposition Labour, and routing the Tory and Lib Dem parties - reducing both partners in the ruling coalition to single digits.

Is this a freak result or a sign of things to come? Why did Galloway win so convincingly? What will be the impact of this result on UK politics?

I'd love to hear the views of UK posters on this phenomenon.

Not a UK poster here, of course, but I looked up the Respect Party website to see what this was all about.

The Respect Party is opposed to war, privatisation and unemployment.

Being against privatisation makes me a little nervous, it's not clear how far they would want to take that...

But they would have my backing on two out of three. Nice going, Bradford East!

K.

(in reply to tweakabelle)

Post #: 2

RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:20:41 AM

hapistan

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Kirata

quote:

ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

It has been described as the most stunning upset in British electoral history. Maverick George Galloway won the seat of Bradford East with an astonishing 36% swing away from opposition Labour, and routing the Tory and Lib Dem parties - reducing both partners in the ruling coalition to single digits.

Is this a freak result or a sign of things to come? Why did Galloway win so convincingly? What will be the impact of this result on UK politics?

I'd love to hear the views of UK posters on this phenomenon.

Not a UK poster here, of course, but I looked up the Respect Party website to see what this was all about.

The Respect Party is opposed to war, privatisation and unemployment.

Being against privatisation makes me a little nervous, it's not clear how far they would want to take that...

But they would have my backing on two out of three. Nice going, Bradford East!

K.

I take the privitisation part to mean a return to public ownership of everything thats been privitised in the past 30 years.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:24:03 AM

Moonhead

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Yep.
Not that Respect have offered any more coherent plans for doing that than they have for the other two, of course...

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:25:27 AM

hapistan

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead

Yep.
Not that Respect have offered any more coherent plans for doing that than they have for the other two, of course...

why would they need to?

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:34:17 AM

PeonForHer

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It's not the biggest electoral swing ever, but it's close to it. It's been described as a combination of the 'Cameron effect', the 'Miliband effect' and the 'Galloway effect'.

The most obvious point out of the way first: Galloway's always been a flamboyant politician. He's known for his pro-Muslim views and Bradford is a very Muslim area. Even erstwhile Tory-supporting Muslims voted for him this time round.

The Tories are now deeply unpopular - they were bound to lose votes in Bradford. Their score there was abysmal. But Labour's opposition to the Tories under Miliband has been frustratingly lacklustre so far. They've looked far too timid for far too long. Finally, the LibDems, who've traditionally relied upon picking up a lot of the 'protest vote' against the two much bigger parties - aren't in any position at all to do that now. As junior partners in a Tory-led coalition government, they've come to look like the Tories' poodles.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:36:08 AM

Moonhead

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer
But Labour's opposition to the Tories under Miliband has been frustratingly lacklustre so far.

That isn't how you spell "shite", PFH.

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(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:42:13 AM

PeonForHer

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead

quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer
But Labour's opposition to the Tories under Miliband has been frustratingly lacklustre so far.

That isn't how you spell "shite", PFH.

*Chortle*

Do you get Private Eye? You know they run a cartoon strip that sends up Miliband as a kind of Mr Bean?

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 4:54:35 AM

Moonhead

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Yeah, I've seen that.
Not as good the whole "Bair as country vicar" thing, but still pretty funny stuff.

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(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 6:06:54 AM

PeonForHer

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That was so good. The Rev A. R. P. Blair of St Albion's Church, who was frequently sent messages by The Rev Dubya, of the US Church of The Latter Day Morons. Used to have me in stitches.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 6:39:27 AM

dcnovice

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God, I haven't seen Private Eye since my year at Sussex! Is it still going strong?

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 6:45:11 AM

Musicmystery

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quote:

The Respect Party is opposed to . . .unemployment.

This is as opposed to the Parties that support unemployment?

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Post #: 12

RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 12:58:05 PM

PeonForHer

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quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

God, I haven't seen Private Eye since my year at Sussex! Is it still going strong?

Oh yes, strong as ever. :-)

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 5:02:35 PM

Politesub53

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Lets not get too carried away here. Galloway also once won a seat for the same party in Brick Lane ( 2005 Tower Hamlets). Prior to that he was a Labour MP but as a maverick he got himself expelled for remarks about Blair. He stoodfor a different seat in 2010 but didnt get elected. The seat he has just won is in an area with a large ethnic vote and his ant-war views, among others helped him get elected. It isnt unusal for any of these vote to happen mid term, and it was more Labours loss since it is traditionally a labour seat.

My compatriots seem to be having another labour luvvie spree, complaining about there own party. As ever they miss the fact the far left is still, and has never been close, to being elected in the UK. If they ever want to become electable they have to take the "New Labour" route and move closer to the centre, its either that or continue to sit on the fringe and moan about your lot. They also failed to mention Labour lost just a big a slice of the vote as the Conservatives, not bad since the conservatives are now starting to piss me off, and i voted for them !

Lastly lets not forget that great socialist remark from Galloway when he was asked to accept a working mans wage "I couldnt live on three working mens wages" This about sums up the so called far left over here. Almost to a man/woman once in power any principles go out of the window. At least Thatcher stuck to hers chaps.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/1/2012 10:53:20 PM

tweakabelle

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Galloway is certainly far-left. I found it interesting that he was able to attract votes in wards that previously had flirted with the far Right, that his appeal transcended ethnic divisions and traditional rusted-on tribal loyalties to the established parties. It's perfectly possible that it's a one-off event, yet ......

Both the result in Bradford, and your own post speak of disenchantment with all 3 of the major parties. Does this indicate that the Lib-Dem experiment (as a viable alternative to Lab/Cons) is failing? Terminally? Galloway has tapped into this alienation in Bradford - yet you seem to discount any prospect of it being repeated on a larger scale across the country. If none of the established parties are addressing this alienation, how is it going to be resolved

The combination of recession, declining living standards, widespread alienation, and strong anti-war sentiment could make for a potent mix.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/2/2012 3:01:06 AM

Politesub53

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Its always been the same way Tweaks. Whichever party talks the best talk, or makes the best pledges gets elected. Then not only do any principles they have disapear, they even use policies they previously voted against. A prime example is that the Conservatives now want to introduce a policy allowing the security services to log who you are talking to on the internet, a policy that labour tried and failed to introduce.

The Lib-Dems seem too muddled in their thinking, they are trying to keep both Liberal and traditional Labour/Conservative voters happy. Originally the Social Democrats were a break away group from Labours far left, Blair latched on to this fact when leading Labour to a more centrist stance. I am sick of politicians being they left wing/right wing/ or centrist playing plitics and not doing whats best for the country as a whole.

Just an early example of how egotistical and self centred galloway is, he tweeted that "Shattered but happy after the Blackburn triumph" All well and good except that isnt where he stood and was elected MP. His disdain for anyone other than himself is a prime example for the problem, and I am guessing its a world wide pronblem, with modern politicians. I could give a long list of those who have jumped ship, if not between parties, at least between values. You could probably do the same with Aussie politicians.

Rant over, but I am close to not voting for any of them again. Its a shame because the right to vote was hard earned by the working classes.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/2/2012 4:04:42 AM

Moonhead

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The fact that anybody can describe the current (post New) Labour party as "far left" is puzzling. The ridiculous Milliband may be a little to the left of Blair and his crypto Thatcherite clique were, but he's hardly Nye Bevan, is he?

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I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/2/2012 4:38:07 AM

tweakabelle

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From: Sydney Australia
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Politesub53

Its always been the same way Tweaks. Whichever party talks the best talk, or makes the best pledges gets elected. Then not only do any principles they have disapear, they even use policies they previously voted against. A prime example is that the Conservatives now want to introduce a policy allowing the security services to log who you are talking to on the internet, a policy that labour tried and failed to introduce.

The Lib-Dems seem too muddled in their thinking, they are trying to keep both Liberal and traditional Labour/Conservative voters happy. Originally the Social Democrats were a break away group from Labours far left, Blair latched on to this fact when leading Labour to a more centrist stance. I am sick of politicians being they left wing/right wing/ or centrist playing plitics and not doing whats best for the country as a whole.

Just an early example of how egotistical and self centred galloway is, he tweeted that "Shattered but happy after the Blackburn triumph" All well and good except that isnt where he stood and was elected MP. His disdain for anyone other than himself is a prime example for the problem, and I am guessing its a world wide pronblem, with modern politicians. I could give a long list of those who have jumped ship, if not between parties, at least between values. You could probably do the same with Aussie politicians.

Rant over, but I am close to not voting for any of them again. Its a shame because the right to vote was hard earned by the working classes.

Yes. I could very easily write more or less exactly the same about Aussie politicians. With a minimal level of tinkering, - just changing the occasional noun or name here and there - that rant could easily have been written by an Aussie. Or, if we exclude some of the more committed partisan types posting here, by an American. The zeitgeist seems to be: A plague on all your houses (politicians /political parties).

Oddly enough we all live in democracies where in theory, the government is meant to reflect the will of the people. Clearly they don't. Yet we all seem powerless to do anything about it and so suffer a seemingly indefinite regurgitation of the same. Are occasional passionate but futile breakouts like the vote in Bradford the best we can do?

< Message edited by tweakabelle -- 4/2/2012 4:39:45 AM >

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/2/2012 4:42:54 AM

PeonForHer

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead

The fact that anybody can describe the current (post New) Labour party as "far left" is puzzling. The ridiculous Milliband may be a little to the left of Blair and his crypto Thatcherite clique were, but he's hardly Nye Bevan, is he?

Oh lordy. Well, people were still referring disdainfully to New Labour as 'socialists' years into Blair's premiership. I always thought that New Labour could, and should, be accused of many things, but definitely not that.

The strategic problem that the Labour leadership has at present is that they can't decide whether they want to position themselves as 'sensible centrists' and the obvious alternative to an increasingly incompetent and nuttily right wing Tory party - or to move leftwards. The most likely strategy they'll take is just to wait until the Tories destroy themselves. It's been true for many years that opposition parties don't win elections; the incumbent parties lose them. In other words governments, after so many years, simply accrue too many balls-ups to their names.

I hate this phenomenon. The obvious advantage to the present Labour leadership is that they'll be able to get in again with all their options remaining open. What's grated on me for such a long time is that the two big parties only have to sit and wait until it's 'their natural turn to rule again'. What little hope there once was in the LibDems has been thrown away by their activities in this coalition.

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RE: Galloways' victory in Bradford - 4/2/2012 5:01:24 AM

Michael75

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This was a safe Labour seat in which Labour offended most of the voters. They wanted a protest vote option and Galloway spotted this as a chance to get back in.

It's also worth noting that this is the youngest electorate outside of London. Galloway seems to do well with younger voters, probably because he never grew up himself.

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