BRADFORD BASHING

Ed Milband's Labour get battered in Bradford at the hands of George Galloway.

I wonder if Labour leader David Shearer took any notice of the election of British MP George Galloway a few days ago?

Having seemingly come to the conclusion that the way forward for New Zeaalnd Labour is to become even more right wing, the British Labour Party's defeat in the Bradford West by-election, should of sent a blunt message to Shearer that shifting the party ever more rightwards won't win him an election and the likes of blogger Martyn Bradbury will be forced to describe a 'Labour Party - Green Party- NZ First- Mana election bloc' as somehow progressive. Oh, that's right - he's already done that.

The Bradford election was won by former Labour MP George Galloway. It saw the collapse of the Labour vote. Incredibly, a majority of over 5,700 was turned into a defeat by more than 10,000. That vote did not go to the Conservative Party whose total vote plummeted by some 22 percent. The vote went solidly to Galloway and the Respect Party.

Labour got just over 8000 votes and the bookmakers have slashed the odds of Ed MilIband being sacked as Labour leader. Good riddance I say.

In a society wreaked by economic crisis Labour should have strolled to victory. But - remember - this the Labour Party of gormless Ed , a dismal Labour leader who has no plan and no strategy other than imitate the Tories. You just know he wanst to be another Tony Blair but history has passed him by.

In Bradford West, a largely working class electorate, Labour has rightly been rejected as failing to provide an alternative to the Tories. Galloway was able to deal blow after blow describing Labour as 'Austerity Lite'.

‘This is a rejection of the mainstream parties with their Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Tweedledee-and-a-half approach,’ Galloway told the media after his stunning victory.

As blogger Anna Chen has commented:

'Whatever you think of George Galloway, the main parties should take heed. This is the public putting a rocket up your bum. It's no use dismissing this arrogantly as the victory of "communalism", "oh it was just the Muslim vote", and all the other whining I've seen and heard since he won his astonishing 36 per cent swing in last night's Bradford West by-election for the Respect party. The voters have noted that the Tories are emboldened in their attacks on every aspect of life for anybody who isn't a top earner while the creepy Lib Dems facilitate their pillage and Labour flails pathetically. ..If Labour doesn't like Galloway then the solution is easy. Start doing your job so Galloway doesn't have to.'