Respect party 'over'
Thursday, 13 May 2010 12:00 AM
By Joe Fraser
The chairman and main financial backer of Respect has said the party "is over."
Azmal Hussain, who has bankrolled the party, said he would resign and they would have "not a penny more" of his money.
Speaking to BBC London he said, "If anyone wants to continue, let them, but I am not involved."
The party lost its only seat of Bethnal Green and Bow in last week's general election. George Galloway was elected there in 2005 unseating Labour's Oona King.
Abjol Miah failed to defend the seat as a huge swing to Labour saw Rushanara Ali elected as the new MP, the Lib Dems take second and Respect come third.
Galloway meanwhile stood in Poplar and Limehouse and was unable to oust Labour's Jim Fitzpatrick. Candidates stood in nine other constituencies without success.
The party has had moments of instability before. In September 2007 George Galloway wrote to members saying the party was "too disorganised" and "faced oblivion" unless it reformed its internal management.
Rob Hoverman, former election agent for George Galloway, argued that the party still has a future: "We intend to stick around. We got 30,000 votes across the three target constituencies that we hoped to win MPs in."
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