Labour selects Bradford local to stand against George Galloway

Labour has selected a woman who was born and bred in Bradford to take on George Galloway in the general election days after its London-based candidate stood down.

Amina Ali announced she was going to step aside last week four days after she was chosen to face the controversial Respect MP in his Bradford West constituency.

Ali, who is a councillor in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, said she had made the decision because the campaign for the seat 200 miles away in Yorkshire would cause “massive disruption” to her children’s lives.

Labour said mother-of-three Naz Shah has now been selected as its candidate for the election on 7 May. Shah is the chair of a mental health charity, Sharing Voices Bradford.

She is also known for her campaigning after her mother, Zoora Shah, was jailed in 1993 for poisoning her partner Mohammed Azam after years of suffering domestic violence.

Shah said: “I’m proud to have been chosen as the Labour party’s candidate for the seat in which I was born and am proud to call home.

“I am someone with a track record of campaigning and working for grass roots change and promise that if elected I will be a visible presence for Bradford West constituents and a stark alternative to divisive figure George Galloway.

“As is well documented I have faced big challenges in my life - I know the struggles being faced by families across Bradford West because they are struggles I have had to experience myself too.”

She said: “In the by-election in 2012 people here were sold a fake vision by a man who now admits he is more interested in winning elections than actually representing his constituents.

“I know much of the anger that people felt about mainstream parties in Bradford then still exists now, but so does a deep sense of betrayal among residents here – particularly women and young people – that Galloway led them to the top of the mountain then deserted them.”

Ali made the announcement last week that she was standing down as the candidate, saying: “I am the mother of two children and despite my best efforts to make arrangements to bring them to Bradford for the next 70 days, particularly as one of them is doing her GCSEs, this would have caused massive disruption at a critical time. I would not be able to do justice to the members of Bradford West CLP and the people of Bradford.”

Galloway won Bradford West in a by-election for his Respect party in 2012 when a huge swing from Labour left him with a majority of more than 10,000.

He responded to Ali’s decision last week saying: “Omnishambles doesn’t begin to do it justice.”