On 25 January 2004, the Respect Party was launched at a convention in London, establishing a new left-wing alternative to New Labour under Tony Blair. The party, formally known as Respect – The Unity Coalition, emerged from the movement against the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Respect was co-founded by political activists Salma Yaqoob, chair of the Birmingham Stop the War coalition who served as the party’s leader from August 2005 to September 2012, and George Monbiot, a leading environmental campaigner and journalist.

Respect was formed as a broad alliance between socialist organisations, most notably the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), trade unionists, and prominent figures from the Muslim Association of Britain, all united by their anti-war stance.

The party’s name was an acronym standing for Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environment, Community, and Trade Unionism. Its platform combined an anti-imperialist foreign policy with socialist domestic policies.

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In its founding declaration, Respect called for an “end to the war and occupation in Iraq”.

The declaration stated: “We have marched in unprecedented numbers against war, against racism, and in defence of democracy and civil liberties…

“Tony Blair’s New Labour has taken us to war five times in the last six years, each time with calamitous consequences.

“The bloodshed, the waste of precious economic resources, the lying and hypocrisy that have accompanied the attack on Iraq have brought many to the conclusion that they must rethink their traditional political allegiance.”

Monbiot resigned from Respect in February 2004 after the party failed to agree a pact with the Greens not to stand candidates in the same constituencies in the upcoming European Parliament election.

In an open letter, Monbiot wrote he could not belong to a group which stood against “two of the best elected representatives in Britain: [Green MEPs] Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert”.

He stated: “I joined Respect in the hope that we could build a genuine coalition of progressive forces in Britain. I cannot think of a more urgent or more necessary task. At present, British politics is being dragged ever further to the right. We desperately need a coherent, effective movement, which will start to drag it back.

“I hope very much that one day Respect and the Greens can unite to become that force. If that happens, I would be happy to rejoin the coalition. Until it does I will have to stand back.”

Respect’s most prominent voice was George Galloway, the former Labour MP who had been expelled from the party in October 2003. Galloway first won election as a Labour MP in 1987.

In a Guardian article, published 30 October 2003, Galloway said he wanted to “unify the red, green, anti-war, Muslim and other social constituencies radicalised by the war, in a referendum on Tony Blair”.

In April 2004, following the establishment of the party, Galloway said: “Respect. It’s a young word. It’s a black word. It’s the first postmodern name for an electoral political movement; most are one or other arrangement of the words ‘the’, ‘something’, and ‘party’. With Respect, we’re different.”

Galloway stood in London in the 2004 European parliamentary election. He secured 91,175 votes but was beaten by Labour and the Conservatives. He needed 115,000 votes to get a seat.

Galloway nonetheless referred to Respect as “the coming power in the land”, predicting that Labour would get a “bloody good hiding” in the forthcoming by-election in Leicester South.

The Respect candidate for the Leicester South by-election, Yvonne Ridley, finished fourth with 3,724 votes (12.7%). The Liberal Democrat candidate, Parmjit Singh Gill, won a 1,654-vote majority over the Labour candidate. Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Labour would have taken the seat but for the Respect party’s performance.

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Respect achieved a series of notable parliamentary breakthroughs. At the 2005 general election, Galloway won the Bethnal Green and Bow seat, securing an 823-vote majority over Labour incumbent Oona King.

In his victory speech, Galloway told the Bethnal Green and Bow count: “Mr Blair, this defeat is for Iraq and the other defeats that New Labour has received this evening are for Iraq.

“All the people you have killed and all the loss of life have come back to haunt you and the best thing that the Labour Party can do is sack you tomorrow morning.”

King later described the contest as “one of the dirtiest campaigns we have ever seen in British politics”.

Respect fielded 26 candidates in the 2005 general election. Yaqoob, standing in Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath, finished second on 10,498 votes (27.5%). Lindsey German, another senior party figure, placed second with 6,039 votes (19.5%) in the West Ham constituency.

In 2007, Respect suffered a formal schism. Members of the Socialist Workers Party claimed that there was a “witch hunt” against socialists in the party. Galloway and Yaqoob led the rival faction, referring to themselves as Respect Renewal.

The SWP grouping, which also featured a collection of rebel councillors, formally split from the party; the faction adopted the name Left List (later Left Alternative). The larger group associated with Galloway and Yaqoob ultimately retained control of the Respect name.

Lindsey German was among those to leave the party. German stood as a Left List in the 2008 mayoral election, placing eighth with 16,796 votes (0.7%). In this contest, Galloway declared his support for Ken Livingstone, the incumbent Labour mayor; he referred to the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson, as a “Tory buffoon”.

Respect was defeated in Bethnal Green and Bow at the 2010 election. Galloway stood in Poplar and Limehouse, finishing third on 8,160 votes (17.5%).

In total, Respect fielded 10 candidates in the 2010 general election. Yaqoob, standing in Birmingham Hall Green, finished second with 12,240 votes (25.1%).

On 29 March 2012, Galloway and Respect won a spectacular by-election victory in Bradford West, overturning a large Labour majority. Galloway secured 18,341 votes (56%); the Labour candidate, Imran Hussein, finished second with 8,201 votes (25%). The party’s vote share fell by 20 points.

In his victory speech, Galloway hailed the result as “the most sensational victory in British by-election history” and the “Bradford Spring”.

Respect’s decline continued, however, as anger at Labour over the Iraq War became less salient.

In September 2012, Yaqoob announced her resignation from the Respect Party.

In a statement, she said: “It is with deep regret that I have decided to resign from Respect. The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for everyone in the party. I feel necessary relations of trust and collaborative working have unfortunately broken down.

“I have no wish to prolong those difficulties, and indeed hope that they may now be drawn to a close…

“I would like to thank everyone in the party for their support over the years; I wish everyone the very best for the future and in those common struggles for peace, justice and equality that I am sure we will all continue to be involved in.”

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Yaqoob’s resignation came after she criticised Galloway for comments he made about rape and the case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

In a podcast, Galloway said the allegations facing Assange did not constitute rape “as most people understand it”.

He added: “It might be really bad manners not to have tapped her on the shoulder and said, ‘do you mind if I do it again?’ It might be… bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning.”

Galloway, who led Respect from June 2013 to August 2016, lost his Bradford West at the 2015 general election. The Labour candidate, Naz Shah, won an 11,420-majority over Respect in second place. Shah later described the election as a “sexist smear campaign” and “a horrible nightmare”.

Respect only stood four candidates at the 2015 general election.

In December 2015, following the election of Jeremy Corbyn – a longstanding socialist and critic of the Iraq War – as Labour leader, Yaqoob applied to join the party. Her application was rejected.

Galloway stood as the Respect candidate in the 2016 London mayoral election, finishing seventh with 37,007 votes (1.4%).

Galloway spoke positively about Corbyn’s Labour leadership, stoking speculation he would seek to rejoin the party. During the 2015 Labour leadership election, Galloway said he would rejoin the party “pretty damn quick” if Corbyn were elected to the position.

Plagued by intra-party fighting and splits, Respect was formally deregistered on 18 August 2016.

Galloway founded the Workers Party of Britain (WPB), a socialist and socially conservative political party, in 2019.

On 29 February 2024, Galloway secured a dramatic return to parliament, winning the Rochdale by-election by a landslide. The WPB victory came after the Labour Party’s campaign imploded.

Galloway went on to lose his seat to Labour’s Paul Waugh at the 2024 general election mere months later.