Surprise win for RESPECT Party in UK 2005 General Election

May 6, 2005

In a victory that has come as a surprise to commentators, George Galloway, candidate for the RESPECT The Unity Coalition party, has won the election in Bethnal Green and Bow in the UK general election, 2005 with a majority of just 823. The seat had been held by Oona King, and with a majority of 10,057 in the United Kingdom general election, 2001, it had been considered to be a safe Labour Party seat.

RESPECT also took second place in East Ham and West Ham, pushing the Conservative Party into third place in both constituencies, and in Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, pushing the Liberal Democrats into third place.

In an interview with BBC News, Tony Banks stated his belief that the large Muslim population in the constituency had voted against Oona King "because she is a black woman" and that he believed that George Galloway would have seen a far different result if he had "come to West Ham". (In West Ham, Lyn Brown later beat the RESPECT candidate, Lindsey German.)