Gorgeous George: The return?
Monday, 8 November 2010 12:00 AM
By Peter Wozniak
George Galloway is considering returning to frontline politics to stand for the Scottish parliament, it emerged today.
In his column in the Daily Record newspaper, the former Labour and Respect MP wrote he was "under serious pressure" to stand for the Holyrood elections next May.
He added he might stand in Glasgow, where he was an MP for 18 years, as a regional candidate in order to maximise his chances of being elected.
"The Scottish parliament needs some heavier-weight members if it's to develop as a real parliament worthy of the name," he wrote.
"I'd need five per cent of the total Glasgow vote to get elected - somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 votes.
"My friends don't think it's beyond me. Neither do I."
Mr Galloway was kicked out of the Labour party over his opposition to the Iraq war, but has since established himself as something approaching a political celebrity.
He then co-founded anti-war party Respect and beat Labour in Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005, but failed to repeat the feat in neighbouring Poplar and Limehouse this year.
Mr Galloway also commented on Phil Woolas' disowning by Labour, calling the former immigration minister his "apprentice".
"Watching someone I liked and admired like Woolas changing from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde in pursuit of nothing very meaningful was honestly depressing. He could have been a contender," he wrote.
"Labour had better make a respectable choice of candidate for the forthcoming by-election. For it's going to be a Donnybrook."
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