Galloway must earn respect

Once a Labour MP, Mr Galloway now heads the anti-war Respect party and used his phenomenal communication skills and his strong condemnation of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to galvanise Asian voters in the city on an unprecedented scale.

He did this on two fronts. Firstly, he courted young Muslims, particularly on Twitter. And then he convinced them that their vote did not have to comply with the wishes of family elders. Mr Galloway’s grandstanding, and sense of occasion, will certainly enliven Parliament – but the political veteran’s primary duty will be to each and every one of his constituents in Bradford West.

While his rhetoric on Britain’s foreign policy engaged many, the primary consideration on the ground remains community integration, poor education and a shortage of jobs.

This is the challenge confronting the new MP and he must now put the campaign rhetoric to one side to work with local and national politicians to secure a better future for Bradford.

Nevertheless this result was a humiliating one for the main parties – the only glimmer of hope is that it will force them to examine why they have become so out of touch in a city that remains at the vanguard of state intervention from a policy perspective.

While the Tories and Liberal Democrats did not have high expectations, even more so after the mishandling of the Budget and their inept response to the fuel strike, this was a humiliating night for Ed Miliband.

Like David Cameron, he had campaigned assiduously in the West Yorkshire city. But, unlike the Prime Minister, Mr Miliband had planned to return to Bradford yesterday for a victory rally.

Labour’s cause was not helped by a candidate who failed to engage the electorate and was shielded from debate. But that the party hierarchy did not foresee this swing smacks of complacency and evidence that the public remain uninspired by the Opposition – despite the Government’s many own goals.