The WPB contested its first parliamentary seat at the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, with Galloway as its candidate.[20] Galloway gained 8,264 votes (21.9%) and came in third, behind the winning Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater and second placed Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson. The Liberal Democrats came in fourth place, as they did in the previous election.[24] Galloway concentrated on the issues of the Palestinian territories, the Kashmir conflict, criticism of Labour leader Keir Starmer, the suspension of a teacher for showing a cartoon of Muhammad at Batley Grammar School, and the reopening of a police station in Batley.[25][26][27] The campaign received considerable media attention due to incidents of harassment during its final days.[28][29][30][31] The Jewish Labour Movement called the result a "triumph for hope and decency" over Galloway's "toxic politics". Galloway vowed to challenge the result on the basis of an alleged "false statement" made about him by Leadbeater and Starmer, which he said tipped the result of the by-election.[32][33]
On 29 February 2024, Galloway won the 2024 Rochdale by-election following the disendorsement of the Labour candidate in a traditionally safe Labour seat.[40] The Israel–Hamas war dominated the campaign. In his election speech, Galloway said: "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine, in the Gaza Strip."[41][42] Galloway won almost 40% of the vote and overturned a previous Labour majority of 9,668, achieved by former MP Tony Lloyd, whose death had precipitated the by-election. Turnout at 39.7% was much lower than the 60.1% for the 2019 general election.[43] Labour had withdrawn support for its candidate when it became known he had suggested that Israel was complicit in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.[44] Following the by-election, it was announced that the Workers Party had 59 prospective parliamentary candidates for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.[45]
2024 local elections
In March 2024, the party gained its first councillor when the former mayor of Hounslow, Amritpal Mann, defected to the Workers Party.[46][47]
The party's mayoral candidate in Lewisham, John Hamilton, distributed a flyer saying "Starmer’s Labour Party is falling apart. Any criticism of Israel is labelled antisemitic. He is their puppet". He posed with a placard that depicted a swastika above a Jewish Star of David.[53][54][55] He came fifth, with 5.7% of the vote.[56]
On 2 July, independent (formerly Labour) Burnley councillor Syeda Kazmi joined the party.[57]
2024 general election
On 30 April 2024, Galloway announced that he had 500 candidates ready and that the party would stand in every seat at the next general election.[58][59][60]
Among the candidates were announced were former cricketer Monty Panesar, along with defectors from UKIP and Labour.[60][61] Describing the Labour Party as the "number one enemy", Galloway said the party was targeting Labour seats,[61][62] and that it would support a small number of independent left candidates, including Claudia Webbe in Leicester East and Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North.[58]
Within a week, Panesar stood down after a series of disastrous media interviews.[63] Former Labour MP and WPB deputy leader Chris Williamson stood in Derby South.[64] In April it was reported that the WPB candidate in Brentford and Isleworth, Nisar Malik, a former mayor of Hounslow, posted a video in which David Duke, a former "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan, expressed antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews controlling the media and the global financial system.[47] The candidate in Putney, Hassan Chahine, was deselected in late May, due to exposure of his sharing antisemitic material (including a video that asserted that a "coven of Jews" had "seized" control of America and that Jews have been punished throughout history for "killing Jesus Christ") and praising Hezbollah.[65]
The party launched its official campaign on 1 June, with Galloway declaring Labour leader Keir Starmer was "indistinguishable" from Rishi Sunak and had "blood on his hands" over his position on Gaza.[66] Its 34 page manifesto, which was published in June, included policies to increase the personal tax allowance, consider nationalising some public services including rail, water, electricity and the “military-industrial complex”, oppose ULEZ and "green hysteria", regulate "Big Food" and "Big Pharma", end “creeping buro-fascism” and "cultural engineering" and instead support free speech, recognise working class "anxiety" about mass immigration, end "imperialist wars", support Palestine, withdraw from NATO, consider dropping the retirement age to 60, introduce non-means tested free school lunches and remove the UK nuclear deterrent.[59]
In the end, the WPB stood 152 candidates, with Galloway defending his Rochdale seat.[70][71] The WPB won no seats but did garner 210,194 votes across the country. George Galloway came in second place to Labour Party candidate and journalist Paul Waugh in Rochdale. Waugh received 13,027 votes, equivalent to 32.8% of the vote, while Galloway received 11,587 votes, equivalent to 29.2% of the vote.[72][73]Craig Murray, who stood in Blackburn for the party, finished in third place behind independent candidate Adnan Hussain and incumbent Labour MP Kate Hollern.[74] The Workers Party came within a small number of votes of defeating some high profile Labour MPs with large swings.[75]Jody McIntyre came in second place in Birmingham Yardley, 693 votes short of unseating Labour's Jess Phillips.[76] James Giles won just 1,566 fewer votes than Liam Byrne in Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North.[77]
Ideology and platform
The party identifies as a socialist, working class party, which aims for "a redistribution of wealth and power in favour of working people".[78] It describes itself as "economically radical" and "committed to class politics".[79][80] It has expressed support for a planned economy. The party's platform is outlined in its 10-point plan, in which it advocates "rebuilding British industry", universal "decent housing", "free or cheap" public transportation and an end to NHS waiting lists.[78] It advocates for referenda on net zero emissions policies and the future of the British monarchy. Its manifesto states: "The transition to a Green economy should be at a pace that matches the ability of our population to afford it. We will not be seduced by the more apocalyptic Green hysteria that floods our media but we will seek rational debate centred on democratically aligned outcomes beneficial to workers".[81]
The party has been defined as socially conservative, for example rejecting gender self-identification,[4] and party leader George Galloway describes himself as such.[82] Galloway said the party was "the working-class patriotic alternative to fake woke anti-British 'Labour'".[83] In May 2024, Galloway told Novara Media that same-sex relationships are not "normal", while Sajid Pathan, WPB candidate for the Hulton ward in the 2024 Bolton Council election, refused to comment on the question.[84]
The party is opposed to NATO and European Union membership, with a policy of withdrawing Britain from NATO.[85][78] In a statement it said it "is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian liberation struggle and opposition to Zionism as a violently racist ideology".[86][87] Its website states that the party will "withdraw all military support from war zones and work for a negotiated and peaceful settlement whenever and wherever war breaks out".[81] During the week of Galloway's by-election win, a Workers Party delegation was taking part in the World Festival of Youth in Russia.[88]
During the 2024 general election, the party launched its first election manifesto, with promises to improve "poverty pay" and provide more social housing.[89] It pledges the renationalisation of utility companies, free school meals for all children without means testing, free adult education, and to hold a referendum on the continued existence of the monarchy and proportional representation for elections.[90] The overhaul arts funding was also noted, to make space for working-class communities.[91][failed verification]
The party has been referred to as "climate sceptical" and as "strongly downplaying the human impact of two hundred years of industrialisation and greenhouse gas emissions" in terms of its stance regarding how to respond to climate change.[92]
Monty Panesar, former England cricketer. Planned to contest the Ealing Southall constituency at the 2024 general election,[98] but soon withdrew as a candidate.[99]
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