2012 Bradford West by-election

2012 Bradford West by-election
← 2010 29 March 2012 (2012-03-29) 2015 →
Turnout50.8%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate George Galloway Imran Hussain Jackie Whiteley
Party Respect Labour Conservative
Popular vote 18,341 8,201 2,746
Percentage 55.9% 25.0% 8.4%
Swing Increase52.8% Decrease20.3% Decrease22.7%
MP before election

Marsha Singh
Labour

Subsequent MP

George Galloway
Respect

On 29 March 2012, a by-election was held for the House of Commons constituency of Bradford West. It was unexpectedly[1] won by George Galloway of the Respect Party who defeated the Labour Party candidate by a large margin in a result referred to by Galloway as the "Bradford Spring" (by analogy with the Arab Spring).[2] Galloway said the election result was Bradford's "peaceful democratic uprising" version of the riots which swept through England in August 2011.[3]

The result was such a surprise as to cause the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust to commission a report to study the campaign.[4][5]

  1. ^ Sculthorpe, Tim (30 March 2012). "Bookies lose out in Galloway rout". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  2. ^ Pidd, Helen (30 March 2012). "Labour licks its wounds after 'Bradford spring'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  3. ^ Galloway, George (30 March 2012). "This was Bradford's version of the riots". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  4. ^ Rath, Kayte (28 January 2013). "George Galloway Bradford West victory a 'cry for help' from voters". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  5. ^ Baston, Lewis (January 2013). The Bradford Earthquake (PDF) (Report). Democratic Audit. Retrieved 29 January 2013.