Victor in libel case plots revenge on old party

[Englander]

Kevin Maguire and David Pallister
Friday December 3, 2004
The Guardian

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/otherparties/story/0,9061,1365674,00.html

George Galloway is to spend a slice of his £150,000 windfall seeking electoral revenge on the Labour hierarchy, which kicked him out of the party, by running on an anti-war ticket against a prominent Blairite in racially-mixed Bethnal Green and Bow.

The libel victor, sitting as an independent MP since his expulsion in October 2003, last night announced his intention to stand against Oona King in an east London seat where ethnic minorities constitute just over half the voters.

Speaking as leader of the far-left Respect party in a Brick Lane cafe, Mr Galloway told cheering supporters he hoped to bounce back by repeating his high court triumph at the polls.

The Glasgow Kelvin MP said "it was with honour and pride" he would run in Bethnal Green for Respect against an opponent he denounced as a "new Labour stooge".