A LABOUR MP appeared to have missed George Galloway’s disastrous Scottish Parliament election results as she spoke ahead of the Batley and Spen results last night …
Galloway came third in the Batley and Spen by-election, with Kim Leadbeater holding the seat for Labour, albeit with a significantly reduced majority.
After the polls closed last night the BBC’s political journalists spoke to a Labour frontbencher about Galloway’s impact on the campaign.
He had been hoping to capitalise on discontent towards Keir Starmer’s leadership, with a large poster the West Yorkshire constituency showing Galloway in fighting position next to the words “Starmer OUT”.
Emily Thornberry accepted that Galloway had gained some popularity during the contest, telling the BBC’s Newcast that people around the world face this issue with “populist” candidates.
“He’s just disgusting,” she said. “I think that he’s deeply divisive and he’s just a sort of bucket into which people pour all their feelings of anger. In the end for him it’s all about him. The idea that he’s doing Labour a favour, I mean give us a break.
“People around the world have this problem when it comes to highly populist candidates, who promise a great deal, who get a great deal of noise, who get a great deal of attention. And people are attracted to them and then realise later that it’s a mistake. We see it from all kinds of candidates.”
READ MORE: Batley and Spen results: George Galloway says he'll challenge outcome in courts
You don’t have to look too far around the world to find a location where Galloway didn’t manage to attract a great deal of supporters.
His Unionist All for Unity party secured just 23,299 votes across Scotland, a vote share of just 0.9%, at the May 6 election. The Russia Today presenter’s attempt to “get the SNP out” was anything but attractive to voters.
In 2011, his Respect party secured even fewer votes – 6972, accounting for 0.4% of the overall vote share.
Thornberry may have been giving Galloway a little too much credit before the Batley and Spen result even came in …
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