Who is George Galloway and how many votes did he get in the Batley and Spen by-election?
GEORGE Galloway stood in the Batley and Spen by-election as a candidate for the Workers Party and came third. But Galloway, a former Respect and Labour MP, may be best remembered in the public consciousness for his bizarre impression of a cat on Celebrity Big Brother. George Galloway, 66, is a British politician, broadcaster and writer, has represented seats in Glasgow, East London and Manchester in the past, in a political career spanning forty years. He was the youngest ever chairman of the Scottish Labour Party in 1981 and became General Secretary of the London-based charity War on Want in 1983. He left this post when he was elected as a Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead at the 1987 general election. In October 2003 he was expelled from Labour, having been found guilty by the party's national constitutional committee of four of five charges of bringing the party into disrepute after statements made on the Iraq War. Most notably, Galloway will be remembered for appearing on reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006. During his time there, he mimed licking milk, while pretending to be a cat, from the cupped hands of another housemate, actress Rula Lenska. Galloway was also a member of Respect - The Unity Coalition, and became its leader in late 2013, before being elected as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2014. In 2007 he was suspended from the House of Commons for 18 sitting days after an investigation into personal benefit from the former Iraqi administration. He also stood for election to be London Mayor, but was unsuccessful as Sadiq Khan won the vote. Galloway stood in the Batley and Spen by-election in Yorkshire which was held on July 1, 2021 and represented the Workers Party. Kim Leadbeater held the seat for Labour with a narrow majority of 323, picking up a total of 13,296 votes. Galloway came third, behind the Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson with Galloway gaining 8,264 votes. He has vowed to take legal action to get the election result "to be set aside". Galloway is known for falling out with his political allies in a career spanning 40 years. He previously worked for Iranian state-run Press TV. He justified his telly stint by saying: "I dont believe that the government of Iran is a dictatorship I have no problem about working for Press TV in London which is a British owned television station. "Im not responsible for the government of Ahmedinijad. Im not responsible for the leadership of Press TV." During an appearance on The Wright Stuff in 2008, he claimed executed boyfriend of gay Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi was executed for "sex crimes" rather than for being gay. In 2009, Galloway received a Palestinian passport from Ismail Haniya - leader of terrorist organisation Hamas. Galloway has been married four times, and married his fourth wife Putri Gayatri Pertiwi in March 2012. From 1979 to 1999, he was married to Elaine Fyffe, with whom he has a daughter, Lucy. The couple separated in 1987, and divorced in 1999. In 1994, he married his second wife Dr. Amineh Abu-Zayyad, a biologist of Palestinian origin. Abu-Zayyad was granted a divorce from Galloway in February 2009, after an estrangement of several years, on the grounds of "unreasonable behaviour". Galloway married Rima Husseini, his former researcher, in 2005. With his third wife, who is originally from Lebanon, Galloway had two sons - Zein and Faris. Galloway's first wife Fyffe gave birth to his first daughter Lucy in 1982. He had two sons with his third wife Husseini - Zein was born in 2007 and Faris in 2011. Galloway has three children with his fourth wife Pertiwi. A son, Toren Mustaqim, was born in July 2014; a daughter Orla Dhien was born in 2017 and another daughter Oban Amaria was born in August 2020.