Six-term Parliamentarian, freedom fighter, man of the world. More time for the saloon bar and a pint, or five. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. His aides admitted defeat several hours before the formal decision was due. Ed Balls lost his seat in what was the biggest shock of an extraordinary night of election results. George Galloway speaks during an interview at his offices in the constituency of Bradford West, in Bradford, England, on 22 April, 2015, The major political figures who lost out in the General Election, George Galloway blames 'racists and Zionists' for defeat to Naz Shah, General Election Live Updates As It Happens, TTIP: Six reasons why trade deal should scare you, General Election 2015: Highest turnout since 1997. Who will replace Labour leader Ed Miliband? But Galloway returned to the political fray by founding the Respect Party and winning Bethnal Green and Bow in the 2005 General Election. He speaks of his past mentioning that he nearly came to blows with Tony Blair in the corridors of Oxford University, saying that if he invaded Iraq the fall of Baghdad wouldn't be the beginning of the end but would be the end of the beginning.He goes on to say that the United Kingdom could be no more as of September 2014 because of Scotland's hatred for the Tory rule of the UK. “Never felt happier,” in fact. He was previously the President of the party, as well as a two-time leadership candidate, and stood for the party in the 2004 Mayoral election. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. Kennedy had led the Lib Dems between 1999 and 2006 and had become something of an elder statesman of the party. A Labour MP from 1987 to 2003, he was an outspoken critic of the policies of Tony Blair and New Labour, in particular the decision to invade Iraq. However, the well-known Lib Dem MP lost his seat to the Tories, having held the seat in 2010 by 7,560 votes. She was a former junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, then becoming junior minister with responsibility for international development. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one - and neither has anyone on my behalf. A Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil since 2001, he was the minister of state for Schools. He says the Labour party and Tory parties are like two cheeks of the same backside, so close together they don't differ in opinion on any of the big issues such as immigration, benefits, the economy. Between 1987 and 2015, except for a period between 2010 and 2012, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) for four constituencies, firstly for the Labour Party and later the Respect Party . As a matter of fact I’m going off now to plan the next campaign.”. He conceded defeat ahead of the official declaration and said he would not give any TV interviews. He makes this point as there are so many people in Britain that don't understand that any people who have had their homeland invaded and occupied by others feels exactly the same. He lost his seat to the SNP, with the party now holding a 9,076 majority. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress. George Galloway today accused US senators of manufacturing "the mother of all smokescreens" as he defended himself from charges that he profited from Iraqi oil sales. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. OK, so he came close to being upstaged by a professional comedian – Al Murray aka the Pub Landlord, had also lost in South Thanet. But as he lost his fight to become an MP and resigned his Ukip leadership, Nigel Farage did manage to get in a few gags. The hyena can bounce on the lion’s grave but it can never be a lion and in any case, I’m not in my grave.

George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, delivered this statement to US Senators today who have accused him of corruption "Senator, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader. Lynne Featherstone lost her London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green to the Labour party. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. and neither has anyone on my behalf. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Mr Galloway re-entered Parliament in this March as MP for Bradford West and has recently provoked controversy and criticism with his comments on the rape charges against Wikileaks' Julian Assange.ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION SOCIETY: The Union is the world's most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate? His pugnacious politics are allied to a warmth, humour and charm that go along way with voters.”, “Never a dull moment is what he promised me when he proposed marriage to me. The Respect party MP, who lost his Bradford West seat with 8,557 votes to Shah’s 19,977 said he feared the “racists and Zionists” would be celebrating long into the night upon hearing the news. Under the Coalition government, the Lib Dem MP was the Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and for Women and Equalities. He was the second Ukip MP after Douglas Carswell, and his loss is a huge blow to Nigel Farage’s party. But perhaps bearing the last election in mind, when he was in intensive care following an air crash, he said after the result that he felt “pretty good”. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Some sources around Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, suggest that there are still £100Billion avoided and evaded in income tax every year from the biggest earners and corporations in Britain. He previously held the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect between 2005 and 2010, although he unsuccessfully contested Poplar and Limehouse in 2010. Quite right too, old boy. Margaret Curran had held Glasgow East since 2010 and was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. David Dimbleby lose his cool during BBC's election coverage, You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully, Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable, Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties, We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification. He held a number of cabinet positions under the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Clegg's right-hand man, Danny Alexander, lost his seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to the SNP. George Galloway concludes by saying we should open our eyes to the state of our nation and to reject the state of mediocrity that British politics has become.

The Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997. On her election in 2005, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons. “Galloway is the most charismatic politician in Britain. If we got that tax there would be no deficit, no need for cuts or tuition fees or a times of austerity.He tells of how his phone was hacked and how the press in this country are rotten to the core for hacking the phone of Minnie Dowler, a girl who messages were still being answered long after she was dead giving her parents false hope. Writer, broadcaster, film-maker. An MP for Rochester and Strood since 2010, Reckless switched from the Conservatives to Ukip in September 2014 and winning the seat outright in November. Create a commenting name to join the debate, There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts, There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. Husband, father of five children, Scottish of Irish background, honorary Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian, Egyptian… Friend of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Benazir Bhutto, Yasser Arafat, Tariq Aziz. A weight lifted off the old shoulders. “A Scotsman with the gifts of jab and gab […] as his appearence before the senate showed, Mr Galloway is as pugnacious as ever, and as certain as ever that he is … He sure was right about that!”, “A Scotsman with the gifts of jab and gab […] as his appearence before the senate showed, Mr Galloway is as pugnacious as ever, and as certain as ever that he is being proved right every step of the way […] who now doubts what he said about the war in Iraq?”. Labour's share of the vote was down by 21.3 per cent. There’s only one George Galloway. Football and boxing enthusiast, movie-goer, box-set binger. She had previously been the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston (a seat she might wish she still held, as it is still held by Labour under the title Glasgow Provan). It has been established for 190 years, aiming to promote debate and discussion not just in Oxford University, but across the globe.Rights managed by Oxford Media Associates http://www.oxfordmediaassociates.com/Filmed by Oxford Media Solutions http://www.oxfordmediasolutions.co.uk Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? George Galloway | The State of Britain | Oxford Union - YouTube It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Cable had held the seat since 1997 and was a strong figure in the Lib Dems, having previously been deputy leader. “I don’t begrudge the Labour members here their moment of celebration of course,” he said. Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines. “But there will be others who are already celebrating: the venal, the vile, the racists and the Zionists will all be celebrating. He had been an MP since 1983. She lost her seat of East Dunbartonshire to the SNP's John Nicholson. There were suggestions that the SNP vote could be as high as 50 per cent. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary lost his Twickenham seat to Tory candidate Tania Mathias. A sign of how dire things are in Scotland now for the Labour party. The shadow Foreign Secretary and Ed Miliband's Chair of General Election Strategy, Danny Alexander had been the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 1997.