Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 6:56 pm Post subject: Galloway to stand for Scottish parliament
Holyrood could be calling me home
George Galloway
Nov 8, 2010
I am coming under serious pressure to be a candidate in Glasgow, for the Scottish parliament in May. Football supporters, leaders of the Asian community, trades unionists, former constituents - even members of the Labour Party are all saying that the Scottish parliament needs some heavier-weight members if it's to develop as a real parliament worthy of the name.
It needs members who might be recognised outside their own living rooms, members with principles on which they stand, come what may. And it needs members who can speak, their own mind, without a pager in their pocket.
I'd need five per cent of the total Glasgow vote to get elected - somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 votes. My friends don't think it's beyond me. Neither do I. What about you?
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I'm pretty much certain that he could get that many votes here. With the exception of Wendy Alexander, Glasgow doesn't really have any well-known politicians and I think a lot of people would vote for him.
(I slightly edited the text in the article as it was part of another)
Thanks for this Face and all the other stuff on the site. It's just the best man. Nice to hear George call it the 'Scottish Parliament' now. I thought he had a thing about calling it that? I love him but at times he is such a politician it makes me laugh.
Gail Sheridan expected to stand for Scottish parliament Wife of disgraced socialist leader Tommy Sheridan set to stand for election in Glasgow – where she will go head to head with George Galloway
Gail Sheridan, who is expected to stand for the Scottish parliament in May's elections
The wife of the disgraced socialist leader, Tommy Sheridan, is to mount a direct challenge to the former Labour and Respect MP George Galloway by standing against him at the next Scottish parliamentary elections.
In a dramatic twist to the long-running Sheridan saga, Gail Sheridan is expected to announce later this month that she will stand for election in Glasgow for the leftwing party founded by her husband, Solidarity. She has claimed she wants to "take up Tommy's mantle".
Tommy Sheridan was convicted of perjury last month and is expected to be jailed for four or five years when he is sentenced at Glasgow high court in 12 days' time: a jail term of more than 12 months will legally bar him from ever being re-elected to parliament.
Gail Sheridan's decision to stand was leaked last night after attempts by the Sheridans over the last few weeks to form a "broad left" coalition – with Galloway as the lead candidate and Gail Sheridan as his running mate – failed.
Galloway rejected Sheridan's overtures and will instead announce his plans to stand for his party Respect at a press conference in central Glasgow on Sunday, followed by a mass meeting at Glasgow central mosque.
Their rival campaigns threaten to further split the leftwing vote in Glasgow. Sheridan's estranged former colleagues in the Scottish Socialist party, which once had six MSPs at Holyrood, are also expected to put up candidates in the city.
It is understood that Galloway decided against joining Gail Sheridan in a broad left slate because of Solidarity's support for Scottish independence, which he opposes. He plans to stand on a "real Labour values" platform designed to appeal to the party's core vote in the city.
But Galloway is also believed to have been worried about the potentially damaging impact of Tommy Sheridan's conviction in December for lying on oath about his sex life and his visits to a sex club. There have since been further allegations about his behaviour.
"There was no real prospect of [the alliance] happening, although Tommy pushed very hard for it," said one source. "Solidarity is a far-left party and George's line is he will reintroduce real Labour values: that's just not a marriage that can happen."
Gail Sheridan was also tried for perjury for allegedly lying repeatedly to give her husband an alibi, but was cleared after the prosecution dropped all the charges against her during the 12-week trial.
In a headline-grabbing performance immediately after his conviction, Gail told reporters she would "always stand by Tommy".
Galloway began his parliamentary career as the Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead and then Glasgow Kelvin from 1987 to 2005. But after clashing heavily with the party's leadership over the Iraq war the leftwinger then became the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in London in 2005, failing to win re-election Poplar and Limehouse in 2010.
Galloway is regarded as a deeply divisive figure by many Labour MPs, due to his uncompromising views and past controversies about his political and charitable activities.
But he has earned support amongst Muslims because of his support for Palestinian causes, and his opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
His close allies believe the large Muslim vote in south Glasgow could prove crucial in delivering the 5% of the vote he needs to be elected on the regional list for Glasgow under Holyrood's proportional voting system.
Galloway has a weekly column for the Record newspaper in Glasgow, and also a weekly radio show on TalkSport. His candidacy could also take votes from the Scottish National party, which has gained some support from the largely Pakistani Muslim population in Glasgow largely because of its anti-war stance.
Gail Sheridan, 46, a former British Airways flight attendant, previously stood for election for the Scottish Socialist party as a local council candidate in Glasgow in 2003; although the party's vote increased, she failed to gain a seat. She too briefly had a column in the Record.
The party believes her popularity has been boosted by her exposure during the trial. The public gallery was frequently packed with Solidarity supporters, who turned out in force for the jury's verdict two days before Christmas.
She has refused to publicly confirm her decision to stand for Holyrood today, but one source was quoted by the Herald newspaper in Glasgow saying she had been "overwhelmed" by the support she had received since the trial.
The source added: "She told me: 'I realised this was the only move forward for Solidarity and I felt I had to take up Tommy's mantle. There is everything to fight for and I'm fighting to win. Given the strength of support I have received in recent weeks, anything is possible'."
George Galloway irked by Gail Sheridan Holyrood bid
14 January 2011
Scotland,(GGS NEWS) 14 Jan 2011 :: The former Respect MP George Galloway has said he is “surprised and hurt” that Gail Sheridan is to stand for election to the Scottish Parliament. The wife of disgraced politician Tommy Sheridan, who is due to be sentenced for perjury, plans to stand for her husband’s Solidarity party in May.
Mr Galloway said Sheridan had proposed that his wife should stand as a number two to him on the Glasgow list. Her decision means that she will now compete with Mr Galloway for votes. Speaking to Scotland, Mr Galloway said he was “a bit surprised” to read about Mrs Sheridan’s candidacy. Only a couple of days ago Tommy Sheridan was proposing to me that Gail Sheridan should run as the number two on my list in Glasgow – my campaign’s launched on Sunday. I expressed quite serious misgivings about it but I hadn’t actually formally closed any discussion about it, so, it’s all a bit of a surprise.”
Mr Galloway said he had been against the proposal for a number of reasons. “First of all I’m against the separation of the country and Tommy’s group is for independence,” he said. “I’m a Labour man and they’re more of a far-left crew, but most importantly if Gail Sheridan runs as my number two my election campaign will become a referendum about Tommy Sheridan, about his trials and tribulations – and I really don’t want that.”
Mr Galloway conceded that Mrs Sheridan standing for Solidarity could be problematic for him.
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A far-left crew? Yeah, all that stuff about equality and redistribution of wealth is positively Stalinist.
George Galloway announces Holyrood bid with attack on Salmond and Gray
17 January 2011
By Craig Brown
scotsman.com
GEORGE Galloway branded First Minister Alex Salmond and Labour leader Iain Gray "the political equivalent of the Krankies" yesterday as he officially re-entered Scottish politics. Announcing he will stand for election at Holyrood in May, Mr Galloway said there were too many "non-entities" serving as MSPs and that the time had come for a "heavyweight parliamentarian".
Dressed in a sombre all-black suit at odds with his colourful political reputation, he set out his stall at the back of the Bombay Blues, an Indian restaurant in Glasgow city centre he had helped open 20 years ago. "I am here to announce that I am a candidate in the Scottish Parliament elections in May. I'm going to stand in Glasgow," he said. "I'm not a stranger, of course, to the city. I was for 18 years a Labour MP here. Of course, I've been out of Glasgow politics since 2005, which is not just yesterday but it's not an age. The affection and attachment and commitment that I have to Glasgow is, I hope, of such long standing that it will not be doubted."
He said he had not decided yet whether he would run under the Respect banner, as he had in London's Bethnal Green constituency, or as an independent. Facing a small group of journalists, the veteran politician looked relaxed despite confessing to having not smoked one of his trademark cigars in "24 days and counting" on account of a bout of ill-health last month. He gave a typically forthright performance during which he outlined what he believed were the shortcomings of Labour and the SNP, the poor performance of the parliament and what he believed his role in it would be.
Mr Galloway said that while he wanted Scotland to remain part of the union, he "strongly" believed in home rule. "It's my contention, you may think it's rude, but I think it's accurate, that today's Scottish Parliament has too few real parliamentarians in it, heavyweight parliamentarians who would be recognised outside their own street, whose voice would be recognised if heard on the radio," he said. 'It's my view that too many, in Holyrood today, would regard the term 'non-entity' as an accolade and I think that's bad for the Scottish Parliament. It's bad for politics in Scotland."
He said he believed First Minister Alex Salmond was head and shoulders above other MSPs, but that this was part of the problem in that Mr Salmond remained untested and "his feet are not put to the fire".
The 56-year-old also put an end to the prospect of an alliance with Tommy Sheridan's Solidarity Party after it emerged last week that Gail Sheridan would be standing for the party. The pair had been in discussions about standing together under the same banner but that idea floundered over Mr Sheridan's tarnished reputation. "Most importantly I believed, and I believe, that if I were to run a joint campaign with Solidarity, especially with Gail Sheridan as my number two, that my election campaign would become a referendum on Tommy Sheridan," said Mr Galloway.
He said he would publish his manifesto at a later date, although he added that his focus would be on more powers for the Scottish Parliament. He suggested that if he was elected he would end his career at Holyrood, but did not rule out another attempt at a political comeback: "If I don't get elected, then obviously I reserve the right to have a go in other elections," he said. "But I did spend 23 years in the House of Commons, that's possibly quite long enough."
Why I'm rooting for 'Gorgeous' George Galloway What George Galloway's Holyrood campaign is certain to lack in content and substance he will make up in colour and controversy, which will at least help to keep things interesting, writes Alan Cochrane.
Alan Cochrane
18 Jan 2011
telegraph.co.uk
He's not exactly endearing himself to his putative colleagues at the foot of the Royal Mile, is George Galloway. For a former MP who now says he wants to be an MSP, calling people with whom you might be rubbing shoulders in a few months' time "stumblebums" and "nonentities" is hardly the way to win friends and influence people, even if they are not your allies. But then, Mr Galloway would probably claim that he does not want to be liked, merely respected.
As he practices what passes in some quarters for oratory and generally limbers up his autodidactic skills for the coming fray, there is certainly one group of people that this observer, at least, hopes will take "Gorgeous" George to their hearts.
I refer, of course, to the voters of Glasgow. It's not that I think Mr Galloway is a good politician; I don't. It's not that I think that he will be of benefit to the people of Glasgow. I don't. It's not that he'll raise the prestige of the Scottish Parliament by bringing, in his own words, "a touch of class" to the place. He won't.
What he will be is a marvellous advertisement for George Galloway. Any benefit that the people of Glasgow accrue is likely to be entirely coincidental. And improving a parliament's reputation generally comes from activities way beyond the handing out of insults, however wounding, and assorted bon mots, no matter how colourful.
But I still hope that Mr Galloway gets the nod on the regional list section of the ballot paper in Glasgow on May 5 and I wish it for entirely selfish reasons.
Having heard real parliamentary debaters – Michael Foot, Enoch Powell, Michael Heseltine, John Smith to name but a few – I'm bound to say that Mr Galloway doesn't even make the top of the second division, never mind the premier league. But what he is certain to lack in content and substance he will make up in colour and controversy.
While it may appear flippant to say so, it is such commodities that help keep those of us in the cheap seats in business. Just as when Paul Gascoigne signed for Glasgow Rangers in the 1990s and became as much a feature of the news pages as the sports section, so I would expect as lively a figure as Mr Galloway to brighten up the political coverage of our newspapers. Who knows, he may make the news pages occasionally, too?
Apart from not all of Glasgow's voters necessarily sharing the high opinion of Mr Galloway that he has of himself, there is the small matter of a rival candidate for the city's Left-wing vote. An electoral pact between the former Hillhead MP and Gail, wife of the soon-to-be jailed Tommy Sheridan, appears to have fallen through and Mrs Sheridan is to fight under her husband's old Solidarity banner. Mr Galloway is reported to be currently campaigning under a "galloway4glasgow" label, although that may change on the ballot paper to "Scottish Respect (George Galloway)".
Contrary to popular belief, the two parties are not interchangeable; Mrs Sheridan and her husband support the break-up of the United Kingdom, while Mr Galloway does not. The London media, which knows nothing and cares less about Scottish politics, are certain to home in on Mr Galloway's campaign – they've long loved him, after all – and, as a side issue, it will be interesting to see how Alex Salmond reacts to getting only second billing.
It will be a tall order for both Mr Galloway and Mrs Sheridan to make it to Holyrood but in Mr Galloway's favour, as well as media interest, is the fact that he at least will be able to campaign in person whereas Mr Sheridan's efforts on his wife's behalf are certain to be somewhat circumscribed by the fact that he will sewing mail bags, or whatever, by May 5.
But let battle commence. Scottish politics could do with a good laugh.
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A journalist admitting he's got only a cynical interest in who the people elect... who'd have thought it?
Solidarity could back Galloway
Robbie Dinwoodie
29 Jan 2011
heraldscotland.com
The prospect of George Galloway standing with the backing of Tommy Sheridan’s Solidarity party has come a step closer following the decision of Gail Sheridan not to stand. The team putting together Mr Galloway’s bid has planned until now on the basis of a “galloway4glasgow” pitch, but the combination of Solidarity or Mr Galloway’s London-based party Respect could still come into the equation.
Yesterday, Mr Galloway’s representatives met Solidarity representatives to discuss the possibility of a joint campaign in the wake of the change of heart by Gail Sheridan about standing in May. A spokesman for Mr Galloway said: “We had a very positive meeting to discuss the possibility of putting together a left candidate. We are still at a very early stage and we are just discussing ideas. There will be a bigger meeting on February 5 to see if we can come to some future set of ideas, but at present we are talking to Solidarity and to others.”
The meeting next month will also involve the Scottish Trade Union and Socialist Campaign, which has stood at elections in the past. If both Solidarity and STUC stand aside for Mr Galloway or allow him to carry their banner he will have taken a big step forward in terms of making himself electable.
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It would be great if all the other parties focussed in this way...
GEORGE Galloway has said he would prefer a Labour victory in the Holyrood election because Iain Gray would be more receptive to trade union pressure. The move is a gamble for the former Labour rebel as he will undoubtedly alienate Nationalist-inclined voters in Glasgow, but he has calculated he has most to gain by selling himself as the Old Labour vote on a Labour ticket.
Backing Iain Gray over Alex Salmond, he said: “Salmond would do more damage, for only this reason: Gray can be pressured by the trade union movement. The SNP are not part of the Labour movement.”
Mr Galloway named his list yesterday, which will stand only in Glasgow and incorporates Solidarity, union and student activists. He pledged to shake up Holyrood, saying the Scottish Parliament stood “too small in its horizons”.
A Glasgow Parliamentarian for most of his time at Westminster, he believed the city’s voters would embrace him again on his anti-cuts, anti-war message. He accused the current crop of Scottish politicians of being silent in advance of Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget, and on the cost to the public purse of military action in Libya. The Respect party founder also insisted there was no mandate in Scotland for the Westminster coalition’s cuts and vowed to make the case against them with “credibility”.
Mr Galloway was speaking in Glasgow as he began his drive to win a seat at Holyrood as part of Coalition Against Cuts. He and his fellow candidates are hoping to be elected as list MSPs. He said: “We’ll make the argument that there’s no need for these cuts, that these cuts flow from a deliberately exaggerated picture that’s drawn of the country’s financial state. Secondly, that in so far as reductions in expenditure need to be made, they should be made not in the services of already impoverished people, but in the waste of war and tax avoidance.”
Mr Galloway pledged to “rumble up” Holyrood if he wins a seat, suggesting Scottish politicians have been too quiet on crucial issues. “It’s my view that the Scottish Parliament is too small – too small-minded, too small in its horizons and that the great majority of the people in it are quintessentially small politicians,” he said. “The whole of the national UK media and national UK political class is now presently bickering and arguing over the contents of the Budget.
“But the Scottish political class had apparently nothing to say about this Budget in advance. They certainly had no Scottish tanks on the Chancellor’s lawn. If they were pushing for any particular course of action that would benefit Scotland, I never heard it. More importantly, the UK Government ministers who still hold the purse strings and still command the heights of the political economy of Scotland didn’t hear it either.
“If we get into the Scottish Parliament, be sure that Westminster and Whitehall, as long as Westminster and Whitehall have power over Scottish lives, will know all about what we are asking for and demanding. The other thing that seems to have escaped the attention of the Scottish political class is that we’re at war and it’s costing us £3 million a day to hurl Tomahawk missiles at a North African country with an apparently endless quest in sight. The Scottish political class have nothing to say about that, notwithstanding the fact that the taxes that are being spent are our taxes too.”
Mr Galloway vowed to fight Glasgow’s corner at Holyrood, saying it has not flourished under devolution.
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