English Democrats' Performance in Doncaster: May 2012

It should perhaps come as a relief to the English Democrats that the electors of Doncaster voted in favour of retaining its mayoral system last Thursday, for following the local elections English Democrat Mayor Peter Davies remains the sole individual from that party to hold office in the borough. He himself was not up for re-election on this occasion, but the electors chose to retain the system by a margin of 61.7% to 37.8%. Just quite how far this is indicative of his personal popularity is difficult to gauge, but this result does seem to provide a clear popular endorsement of the system itself.

In the 2011 May local elections the English Democrats chose to contest twelve wards in Doncaster, whereas this year they fielded candidates in only seven. This tactic seems to have paid off, by perhaps enabling them to better concentrate their modest resources. Although on this occasion the party failed to secure elected representation, it did make tangible progress in the borough, with the average number of votes per candidate increasing from 642 to 754 despite a decline in turnout, and the average share increasing from 16.2% to 22.3%. Last year, the best share obtained was 23.3% in the Bentley Ward, whereas this time the highest proportion was obtained in Wheatley with 28.3%. The positions of the candidates improved too, for in 2011 the party achieved three second places, whereas this year it took five, with one third (just a few votes behind second place) and one fourth.

Although the English Democrats failed to make a breakthrough, these figures would seem to indicate that the presence of the mayor has accorded the party considerable public visibility and thereby generated a certain level of popular support, although this has yet to translate itself into councillors in this Labour stronghold. The future of the party however appears to be in question, as there is some dissent within the English Democrats regarding the leadership largely arising from the admission of a number of ex-BNP members, and there have been expressions of disappointment with the party's results this time around, for nationally it has not made any real headway. Moreover, the party is said to be in considerable debt.

The results below contrast this year's performance with last.

Bentley            681 (25.1%) / 739 (23.3%)

Bessacarr and Cantley        535 (12.9%) / 756 (15.9%)

Central            533 (17.7%) / didn't stand

Edenthorpe, Kirk Sandall & Barnby Dun        731 (19.9%) / 655 (14.8%)

Finningley        1163 (26%) / 1137 (21.2%)

Hatfield            827 (26%) / 673 (17.5%)

Wheatley          806 (28.3%) / 786 (22.9%)

British Freedom Party storms to success in Liverpool

The British Freedom Party made its first electoral outing this week, fielding a total of five candidates in Liverpool and one in Basildon. There can be no denying that the BFP's results were remarkable, and they will forever remain seared into my memory. Anyone who has heard of the BFP and set eyes upon the figures will never be able to forget them, proving as they do, just how much potential there is in the party's current strategy and approach.

Taking the results ward by ward in alphabetical order, we first come to Clubmoor, where Andrew Edward Philip Harvey secured a startling 26 votes, some 0.78% of the total. In County ward, Peter James Stafford won a truly memorable 17 votes, or 0.6% of the total. Everton however, was to provide a slightly more encouraging result with a whopping 50 votes (1.7%) won by its female candidate Jacqueline Stafford. This was enough, as was also the case in Clubmoor and County, to gain her an unchallenged last place. Did Fazakerley buck the trend? Well, to a certain extent yes! Peter Stafford managed not to come last by taking 50 votes and a 1.51% share. However, it was Norris Green that was to play host to the BFP's strongest showing in Liverpool, where its candidate Peter Squire achieved 2.77% with 78 votes and came third. As for the party's performance in Basildon, this was to be the BFP's most 'impressive', which was still very weak indeed: Tony Harris polled 87 Votes, securing a 4.2% share and fourth position out of five.

Given that the BFP currently claims 724 members, has its own website, is supported by a number of bloggers, possesses links with the EDL and has been covered in the national press (e.g. The Independent), should not the expectation be that it ought to fare better electorally than a party of circa 60 members that possesses a rudimentary website, no supporting network of bloggers and has zero visibility? Well, such a party does exist, and it is called the Democratic Nationalists. Despite the fact that to all intents and purposes it is invisible, its five candidates clocked up the following results on Thursday (the first three wards being in Bradford, the fourth in Doncaster and the fifth in Pendle): Royds - 453 votes, 15.1%; Tong - 276 votes, 11.5%; Wyke - 313 votes, 9.6%; Stainforth and Moorends - 410 votes, 16.6%; Waterside - 92, 7.8%. If the Democratic Nationalists could achieve this, why did the BFP poll even more abysmally? The DNs even managed to beat both the Respect and Liberal Democrat candidates in Wyke. Overall, the DNs averaged 309 votes per candidate with a 12.1% share, whereas the BFP equivalent figures were 51 and 1.93%.

What do these results prove? It would seem safe to conclude that were Ken Dodd to choose to stand any of his Diddy Men at the next round of local elections, they would be sure to beat the BFP. Neither however, could beat this party here.

 Ken Dodd and his 'Diddy Men': the BFP's primary challengers

Bradford: Respect take five seats

Although George Galloway had initially made the claim, following his own dramatic election victory, that Respect would field candidates in every Bradford ward during the local elections, in the end they managed to field only twelve. Of these twelve, some five have been elected. It may be rather modest, but it is potentially significant. What this significance may be will be considered this evening. The most high profile victim of Respect's success, reports The Telegraph and Argus, was Labour Leader of Bradford Council - Ian Greenwood - who was ousted from his Little Horton seat by Respect candidate Alyas Karmani who enjoyed a margin of 17 votes.

Yesterday also witnessed a referendum as to whether Bradford should elect its mayor, with voters delivering a clear verdict: 'no', with 55.1% voting against the proposal and 44.9% for.

Bradford Muslim Councillor poses with an RPG

First we had the scandal of Bradford Respect candidate Asif Khan pictured on Facebook holding a machine gun, and now we have another involving sitting Labour Muslim councillor for the city's Toller ward, Amir Hussain. On this occasion however, Mr Hussain is not brandishing a machine gun, but holding a rocket propelled grenade with two guns in the background! Where was this delightful picture (see below) taken? Well, apparently it was taken in Afghanistan as was Mr Khan's, this time 20 rather than 10 years ago. What was Mr Hussain doing there? The Telegraph and Argus reports him as saying that he made the trip "as a local businessman, to distribute funds raised as part of a Bradford radio appeal." If you gave money to that appeal, how do you feel now? Duped?

How very strange that Amir Hussain's and Asif Khan's 'charitable' missions to Afghanistan both involved heavy-duty firearms. These followers of the "religion of peace" certainly have an odd perception of 'charity', do they not? Politics in Bradford is a rum old business.

Amir Hussain on his 'charitable' mission to Afghanistan

Respect's Machine Gun Etiquette

The title of this piece could just as readily have been "Muslim Machine Gunner has Bowling and Barkerend in his Sights", but naturally, I resisted the temptation to post something in such poor taste. However, it would appear that the Respect candidate for the ward of Bowling and Barkerend - Asif Khan - was quite happy up until a couple of days ago to have been pictured on his Facebook page brandishing a machine gun. What was depicted in the picture was all quite innocent of course; "charity work" in Afghanistan some ten years ago apparently. Afghan chuggers evidently use rather heavier tactics than a bit of unbidden and jaunty clipboard waving and faux bonhomie whilst you are out shopping. Now, I wonder what manner of charity Mr Khan was assisting? Afghan Heart Foundation? Afghan Water Aid? Perhaps not. Maybe a little assistance with one of the local outward bound youth camps? Should someone ask Mr Khan? Then again, this might not be such a good idea, given that he is not an overly fluent user of English, and thus might not be able to explain himself properly.

Asif Khan: Your charitable Respect Candidate

Khan's relaxed machine gun pose has been a godsend (allahsend?) to his opponents, particularly to Labour, who have been making a big song and dance (behaviours condemned by many 'devout' Afghans) about the picture which has subsequently been removed from his Facebook account. Besides this one image, there are also many others featuring Mr Khan with shotguns, for he has declared that he is rather keen on attending "shooting grounds" in Skipton. "Shooting grounds" - there's a rather chilling ring to this term isn't there? Rather like "killing fields". Still, so far as I'm aware, Mr Khan has not previously opted for a holiday in Cambodia. This particular candidate ought to get together with neo-Nazi gun nut Dave Jones who is standing for election in Todmorden, for they are well matched.

Could it be the case that Khan's opponents have missed footage of his earlier association with machine guns? Who is this turbaned individual introducing the Cramps' 'Bikini Girls with Machine Guns'? Take it away Lux!

UKIP’s local election Broadcast

This evening’s UKIP party political broadcast sought to bolster and capitalise upon the party’s recent relatively healthy showing in national opinion polls, a number of which have shown them enjoying higher support than the Liberal Democrats. However, given the very low level support for the latter, this does not necessarily betoken a golden dawn for UKIP, as after all the party has previously enjoyed a much higher level of support during the parliamentary expenses scandal. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see how on this occasion it had chosen to present itself to the electorate, choosing to downplay its central “anti-Brussels” line, which was a sane approach given that we are approaching local rather than EU or national elections. Despite its present relative popularity, UKIP has hitherto never fared well outside of the arena of elections to the European Parliament, and it will represent a significant challenge to the party to break away from the single-issue image that it possesses. This broadcast constituted a decent effort at tackling this perception. 

UKIP’s membership is notoriously grey, both in hair and suit (granted, it must be conceded that the sartorial allure of blue pinstripes also proves to be strong for many a Ukipper), whereas the broadcast sought to portray a rather more mixed age range. A youngish (mature rather than callow) couple appeared to describe themselves as “go-getting” (representative of a demographic segment that marketers might term “aspirational”) who declared that they were paying too much tax. Neither how much they were earning nor how much they had inherited were revealed, so I cannot comment upon the merits of their statement, but their clear desire for an uber-Thatcherite low-taxation economy was apparent. This was a central theme of the broadcast: UKIP are a low-taxation rather than a “tax and spend” party like the Westminster triumvirate. UKIP are the populist voice of an electorate groaning beneath an oppressive taxation system, standing up to the professional “career politicians” of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. That may be their message, but there was scant explanation of how such a commitment to low taxation could be funded, other than averring that there was a great deal of “waste” (code for the existence of the public sector).

Despite UKIP being the breakaway Atlanticist Thatcherite wing of the Conservative Party - the only true ‘conservative’ party in the UK given the Conservative Party’s abandonment of Conservatism - the broadcast sought to emphasise that it provides a voice and natural political home for disaffected patriotic Labour supporters. To underscore this assertion it drafted in a former Labour Party member who had been converted to the UKIP cause. Quite how far he concurred with UKIP’s flat-tax free-market globalist economic policy can only be guessed, but UKIP, for all of its positive points, is still a deeply flawed party that is incapable of curing our national, particularly our economic, malaise. Although it was right to draw attention to the well-publicised and unjust sacrifice of jobs at Derby carriage and wagon works Bombardier owing to EU procurement rules, UKIP’s free-market globalism would just as readily lead to the outsourcing of such contracts not to Germany, but to some other country lying far beyond the boundaries of Europe.

Critics of UKIP state that Nigel Farage excessively dominates his party and its proceedings, but on this occasion his presence was marginally less intrusive than in earlier broadcasts, which represents something of an advance. Overall therefore, this UKIP broadcast was an improvement upon their previous offerings, managing to appear reasonably professional, moderate, and to some extent credible. How many voters it appeals to will become evident soon enough. As for myself, like many others I shall be presented with the task of deciding which is the least bad of the candidates offering themselves in my ward, but there will be no anti-globalist candidate of any description. Quite clearly, there exists a public appetite for a credible, moderate anti-globalist party that protects and promotes the material and cultural interests of our people. UKIP may not be that party, but its rising level of support indicates that just such a party is needed. It is our task to bring that party into being, and to offer a positive alternative to the failed globalist free-market economic policies of the big three and UKIP alike.

Farage in Plymouth

Bradford Respect Local Election Candidates Announced

Despite Galloway's breezy braggartry that his Respect Party would field candidates in every Bradford ward in the forthcoming May local elections, this has in fact proven to be far from the case. In total, Respect will be contesting only 12 of the city's 30 wards. Predictably, the ethno-confessional identity of its slate of candidates displays a certain bias, with 8 of the 12 being Muslim and one possibly Hindu (Karmani).

Yesterday, a rumour was reported that a Labour Party member in Manningham had defected to the Respect camp, and according to the Statement of Persons Nominated issued by Bradford Council, the Respect candidate is named as Ahmed Ishtiaq. Confusingly, an individual of that same name stood as a Conservative in Manningham in 2006, and not unnaturally in the initial draft of this piece I therefore got him mixed up with his namesake. As you can see from the comments section, the Conservative Ahmed Ishtiaq remains in the Conservative Party, and quite rightly has been rather annoyed that his name has seemingly been sullied by a false association with Respect. I therefore apologise to this latter Mr Ishtiaq who, contrary to what was thought earlier, can in no way be accused of being opportunistic. This error led to the seemingly bizarre situation of Ahmed Ishtiaq backing both the Conservative candidate Abid Majid in Bradford Moor and Respect candidate Mohammad Shabbir in Heaton. All  has of course become clear, now that we know that there are two Ahmed Ishqtiaqs involved in Bradford politics.

Another interesting fact to be gleaned from the list of candidates is the fact that the two ex-BNP councillors Paul and Lynda Cromie now sitting as Independents, have acted as the proposers and seconders of Michael Walls, the Conservative Party candidate for Queensbury. The BNP, which is fielding very few candidates nationwide owing to its implosion, is standing Eric Baxendale in the ward, so evidently there is no love lost between him and the Cromies. A local party which was born of a schism within the BNP some years ago - the Democratic Nationalists - is fielding candidates in Royds, Tong and Wyke. The BNP is now in such a poor state that Baxendale is its sole candidate.

Surprisingly, Respect has not been able to field candidates in Keighley Central or Toller, two of the wards identified in a preceding piece as being good prospects for the party. Realistically therefore, Respect only stands a chance of taking six seats. It may of course take none, although it should make a decent showing in those wards identified. Thanks to Galloway's popularity in Bradford West, the eyes of the media will certainly be eagerly peering at Bradford in early May. Will this really prove to be Galloway's "Bradford Spring", or will it turn out to be a "Bradford squib"?

The full slate of Respect candidates is as follows:

Bolton and Undercliffe - Tazeem Sawaiz
Bowling and Barkerend - Mohammed Asif Khan
Bradford Moor - Faisal Khan
City - Ruqqaya Collector
Clayton and Fairweather Green - Dawud Islam
Great Horton - Salim Jelani
Heaton - Mohammad Shabbir
Little Horton - Alyas Karmani
Manningham - Ahmed Ishtiaq
Thornton and Allerton - Patrick John Mulligan
Tong - Sarah Cartin
Wyke - James Philip Clayton

George Galloway & Bradford Respect Candidates

Bradford Green and Labour Candidates defect to Respect

With the May local elections fast approaching, Galloway’s Bradford bandwagon is still rolling. Yesterday, Bradford West Green candidate Dawud Islam announced via Twitter that he was defecting to Respect to stand under that party banner in May. He stated:

Hello everyone. I have just released the following Press release on why I am joining the Bradford Spring: http://on.fb.me/HdKgz2 #BradfordWest

His full press release is as follows: 

Hello Everyone. I have just released the following PRESS RELEASE:

Dawud Islam, the Green Party candidate in the recent Bradford West by-election, has today accepted an offer to join RESPECT and will be standing for the party in Clayton and Fairweather Green in the local elections on May 3rd. Mr Islam said that it was not a decision that he had taken lightly but one made because of the unique set of circumstances that Respect’s by-election victory had created. “This is a real opportunity for a re-alignment of progressive left wing politics in this country and I call on all of those who share similar politics to myself to climb onboard and get involved. This is not about what you may or may not think of George Galloway as an individual, that is not the issue here, although many of course love him. What it is about is creating a genuine left leaning political party that can win seats in inner cities across the country and to offer real hope to those currently disenfranchised by the current political ruling elite”.

 
He continued “I call on all ‘Real’ Labour supporters to come and join us, I also invite trade unionists, left leaning greens and those many genuine activists in the Lib Dems that follow a progressive agenda and feel let down by the direction Nick Clegg has taken their party. Let’s create a lean well organized coalition of the left that can deliver electoral success both locally and nationally and can speak up for all of Britain’s communities that are currently voiceless”

 
Dawud praised his old party at the time of making the switch: “It would be an easy decision to make to leave any other party to join RESPECT except the Greens. They are an excellent party and my local team are an excellent set of individuals. I continue to support their entire agenda and will continue my attempts to see it implemented whilst a member of RESPECT. I hope that Caroline Lucas MP and George Galloway MP can agree some sort of electoral pact between the parties in the future as I certainly view the Green Party as a progressive party of the left.
ENDS

Thanks. Dawud Islam

This will not be the first time that he has changed party affiliation, for in 1996 he left the Labour Party for the Greens owing to his sense of unease with the New Labour project. Radical changes of identity are something that Dawud Islam would seem to be comfortable with, for once upon a time he was a non-Muslim named David Edler. Quite what made Mr Edler embrace such a backward creed is currently beyond the knowledge of this blogger.

Moreover, in line with my speculations on possible Labour defections, some sources claim that the Labour candidate for Manningham has jumped ship at the last moment, and will instead be standing for Respect. If this is true, he will of course take the bulk of his ‘community’ backing with him, and in all likelihood, capitalise upon the jubilant ‘community’ support displayed for Galloway. We will not have long to wait for the veracity of this claim to be established, for all candidates will be announced tomorrow lunchtime. It will be interesting to see how many other Labour candidates might display such brazen opportunism. 

Bradford City Centre: Berlin Wall Theme Park?

The Sound of Confusion: another “Freedom Party”?

A little over a week ago a story appeared courtesy of Reuters in which journalist Michael Holden claimed that the EDL was going “to form [a] “Freedom Party””. This claim was made upon the basis of a couple of quotes from Stephen Lennon:

Stephen Lennon, head of the English Defence League (EDL), said the three-year-old grassroots group wanted to move on from holding street demonstrations to contesting elections.

"The British political anti-Islamist party will be launched in May at our Luton demonstration," Lennon told Reuters, saying the new body would be called the Freedom Party.

"At the Luton demonstration, the whole country will hear an anti-Islamist political party that gives everyone an option in a non-racist way - the opposite to the British National Party."

It would seem that either Holden misheard what Lennon said, or that Lennon accidentally omitted the first part of the party’s full name which, given his hitherto stated support, can only be assumed to be the British Freedom Party. There is, or more accurately was, a UK political party named The Freedom Party (its website can be viewed here), but it is now essentially defunct although still technically under the chairmanship of Adrian Davies. So, the question that naturally poses itself is this: is Lennon really proposing to launch another party named “The Freedom Party”, or is he choosing the occasion of this May’s EDL Luton demo for what will be the third attempted launch of the British Freedom Party (BFP)?

The second option would seem to be the most logical one, but then again, not as logical as it ought to be. After all, the local elections are on Thursday 3 May, but the EDL’s Luton demo is on Saturday 5 May. Why choose to launch a party two days after the elections, particularly if the launch in question is actually a relaunch of the BFP? The BFP has previously declared its intention to field candidates in May, but to date, no concrete announcements seem to have appeared in connection with such plans. Perhaps a decision, for whatever reason, has been taken to delay its electoral baptism? Whatever the fact of the matter, this launch or relaunch is being poorly managed and communicated owing to the lack of clarity surrounding the whole affair. 

Yesterday also witnessed Stephen Lennon/Tommy Robinson appear on the BBC Sunday morning television programme ‘The Big Questions’ following his trip to Aarhus in Denmark the preceding day for a European Counter-jihad gathering. Although this was the first time that he had appeared on ‘The Big Questions’, this was not the first occasion that Islam featured in the programme, for the fact is that it seems to play a disproportionate role in almost every episode that is aired. This perhaps should not come as a surprise given that Aaqil Ahmed was appointed as the BBC’s Commissioning Editor Religion and Head of Religion and Ethics in 2009. His appointment has served to embed a pre-existent pro-Islam bias at the BBC, which also seems to have spilled over into its ‘Thought for the Day’ slot on Radio 4’s Today Programme, where once again Islamic voices are given a disproportionately large amount of airtime, whereas neo-pagans, Wiccans, UFO worshippers and voodoo practitioners seem to be left out of the equation. Come on now BBC, when are you going to redress your innate monotheistic bias! So much for ‘diversity’, eh?

Returning to yesterday’s rather more mundane and predictable bear-baiting session on ‘The Big Questions’, the BBC did of course deploy its normal tactic of packing its panel and audience full of pro-Muslim voices, leaving Lennon to defend himself from a far from impartial Nicky Campbell. The latter sneeringly inferred that Lennon dwelt in an alternative reality, responding to his comment that many middle class academics, such as Matthew Goodwin (also on the panel insinuating that Lennon was a crypto-Nazi), were out of touch with ordinary people’s life experience and concerns with the question: “Are they out of touch with what he perceives to be his reality?”

Although the programme purports to present a debate, its real function is to draw the audience towards a predetermined conclusion agreed in advance by its producers, and brought about through their careful selection and weighting of the audience. The end result is to produce a narrow and dogmatic BBC narrative that dehumanises anyone who objects to the ill effects of multiculturalism through making nasty and baseless assertions about their characters, and insinuating that anything other than a thoroughgoing endorsement of its position inexorably paves the way for ethnic cleansing and gas chambers. Yesterday’s episode, as can be seen from the video excerpt below, conformed precisely to this tediously predictable and bogus narrative.

Bradford May 2012: a Respect Breakthrough?

On Thursday 3 May Bradfordians will have the opportunity to go to the polls not only to vote in the local council elections, but also in a referendum as to whether the city should opt to elect its mayor. Now that George Galloway, through his dramatic victory, has demonstrated the potential of Islamic sectarian politics in certain parts of contemporary England, we may see wins for Respect in a number of Bradford wards now that he has declared that the party will field candidates in every ward. Galloway has certainly built up a head of steam for his party, and has generated much enthusiasm amongst the city’s Muslim population, even going so far as to win the backing of its mosques. Indeed, his efforts to tailor his message to this section of the electorate were quite remarkable, as is evidenced both by the letter reproduced below and the campaign speech at the end of this piece. If you possess neither the time nor the inclination to watch Galloway’s speech, you should certainly not omit to read his letter, for its content has to be seen to be believed.

Galloway has never been the shy and retiring type, yet his campaign speech took him well beyond exuberant confidence into the realms of messianic hubris, with him going so far as to invoke the divine punishment to be meted out on Judgement Day as the prospective fate of Muslim electors who chose to vote for a party of war – Labour – rather than for himself: “I believe in the Judgement Day. Not all of you do. I believe that one day we will have to answer to the Almighty for what we did and we did not do.” Galloway would seem to think that he has God, or rather Allah, on his side. He was also rather keen to imply that he, although not formally a Muslim, was a Muslim in deed, citing his teetotalism as evidence and stating that he shared a belief in the Ummah.

How then might Galloway, with his charisma and oratorical skills, support a breakthrough for other Respect candidates in May? Besides the canny honing of his pro-Muslim message, Galloway has also chosen to move the Respect headquarters from Manchester to Bradford, and in his main campaign speech made much play of the fact that he was also eyeing up the local elections “in six weeks’ time”. Connected to this was his statement that “I’ll be ashamed if I leave Bradford and there’s not a new generation of leaders stepping forward to take my place.” Quite clearly, he has plans afoot to develop “a new generation of leaders to come after me,” as was the case he claimed, in Tower Hamlets. Tower Hamlets sets an ugly precedent, and it ought to be a salutary warning to Bradfordians that Galloway intends to develop a cadre of Islamist politicians in the city.

Moving on to a rather more concrete electoral tactic that seemed to work well for Respect last week and will doubtless be employed again in the weeks ahead, Galloway asked of his audience “Every one of you has got at least fifty numbers in your phonebook. Send a text to them all and ask them to send a text to everyone in their phonebook and we reach thousands and thousands of people in Bradford.” This tactic was cheap, personal and effective. He also managed to secure the support of the innocuously named Chambers Solicitors, which not only provided him with the venue for his campaign speech gratis, but also paid for trailers displaying electoral posters. Will the same level of support be available in the weeks ahead?

Turning to the question of which wards Respect could stand a good chance of taking, two primary factors need to be considered: the ethnoconfessional composition of the electorate and Labour Party support. Where the two coincide – i.e. where the electorate is predominantly Muslim and returns Labour councillors – we can see an opening for Respect. Of the two factors however, it is the ethnoconfessional one that will play the determining role in the potential success of Respect, for it will not win votes in any significant numbers from indigenous voters of any political stripe. However, in Bradford West it was demonstrated that Muslims who had previously voted Conservative and Liberal Democrat were quite happy to switch their votes to Respect because of its overtly Islamist agenda. For these Muslim voters, faith trumped every other aspect of policy and personal identity.

Thankfully, we should not yet anticipate that Bradford Council will be transformed into an authority dominated by Respect, for it includes many outlying towns and rural areas that have not to date undergone the demographic transformation of many of the inner urban wards. Furthermore, Bradford Council is comprised of 90 councillors drawn from 30 wards, with one third of its councillors being up for re-election this coming May. Referring to the most recent set of electoral results from 2011, it is clear that there are a number of council seats that could be ripe for Respect. Each of the following wards can be characterised as ‘Asian’ (i.e. majority Muslim) and thus the only realistic targets for Respect: Bowling and Barkerend; Bradford Moor; City; Heaton; Keighley Central; Little Horton; Manningham; Toller. It is quite possible that all eight could return Respect councillors.

It is well known that Bradford West was a Labour stronghold, but some of the wards listed above are in a firm Labour stranglehold: Bradford Moor – 66.6%; City – 64%; Little Horton – 86.8% (Sher Khan – not the tiger from The Jungle Book surely?!); Manningham – 73.2%, and Toller – 80.5%. The question is: how strong are the networks of personal, clan and familial relationships within ‘local’ communities and businesses enjoyed by the men who control these wards? Furthermore, might not some of their colleagues be tempted to run under the Respect banner on this occasion, given that it has now successfully demonstrated its credentials as a viable Islamist party and is riding a wave of popular Islamic support in the city?

As illustrated in Bradford West, it was not only Labour supporters who deserted ‘their’ party for Respect, but also Muslim Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters. The same phenomenon could also characterise the local elections. Although of course non-Muslims will have voted for Muslim candidates in wards across the city – especially when only Muslim candidates were fielded – the following percentages of the vote were cast for such candidates in 2011, and provide a reasonable proxy for the Islamic character of particular wards. Thus, the bases of potential support for Respect are revealed to be much higher: Bowling and Barkerend – 74.9%; Bradford Moor – 100%; City – 91.7%; Heaton – 74.6%; Keighley Central – 85.5%; Little Horton – 86.8%; Manningham – 95.6%; Toller – 100%. Not all will transfer across to Respect of course, but these figures would seem to suggest that the party stands a very good chance of taking them, particularly if its candidates are endorsed by local mosques.

Turnout in local elections is notoriously low, which constitutes another reason for them being able to provide unexpected results for smaller parties. The average turnout across Bradford in 2011 was 40.63%, and given the lack of enthusiasm amongst voters for the traditional mainstream parties, it tends to be those who are the most motivated and passionate about their candidate who bother to turn out and vote. Thus, if last year’s turnout were to be repeated, Respect would on average need to secure the votes of only 21% of the eligible electorate in any ward to be able to take the seat. This is perfectly achievable. Galloway may have reason once again to purr with delight on 4 May.