All I'm Asking, Is For a Little Respect: Assessing the Performance of Britain's Most Successful Radical Left Party

Abstract

When the British public awoke on the morning of Friday 6 th May 2005 most would have been unsurprised to discover that the Labour Party had clung on to power but with a reduced majority, as had been widely predicted. What few had expected was that one of those lost seats would have gone to the former Labour MP George Galloway and his Respect party (hereafter Respect). This was the first time a party to the left of Labour had won a seat in parliament since 1951. Respect also managed to elect a number of local councillors between 2004 and 2010 and at one point was even the official opposition to Labour on the council of the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Despite these modest gains, it is perhaps unsurprising that this party has been rather neglected by scholars of politics.2 After all, one could justifiably argue that attention should not be devoted to 'single issue parties' that represent a mere protest vote amongst one particular community. This article endeavours to dispel some of the assumptions held about Respect and its supporters. It is also argued that despite its gradual decline since 2008, the emergence of the party constitutes an interesting experiment in local democracy. It mobilised a number of activists with no previous experience of party politics and its grassroots campaigns shook up the electoral landscape in a number of previously safe Labour heartlands. This coincided with a general increase in the representation of minor parties and independents in the UK. 3 The article gives an overview of the formation and early development of Respect and analyses its electoral fortunes. It also charts its inexorable decline after the split from the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in late 2007. Consideration is then given to how Respect was able to mobilise its supporters during elections and the reasons for its success, particularly amongst some Muslim communities in Britain. Founding and early electoral contests

Left and right populism compared: The British case

“…Conversely, Respect emerged from the anti-Iraq war movement in 2004. As such it has a strong communalist element, with its best electoral performances in Muslim constituencies (Peace, 2013).…”

Are British Muslims alienated from mainstream politics by Islamophobia and British foreign policy?

“…The damage to the Labour vote among Muslims in 2005 is mostly attributed to opposition to the war in Iraq (Curtice et al., 2005; Fieldhouse et al., 2006). The Respect Party emerged on the back of opposition to the war in Iraq, earning its first electoral victory in the May after British military action started in Iraq, and relying on Muslim voters where it did well (Peace, 2013). However, prior to this there were already voices against intervention in Afghanistan in September and October 2001, Muslim and otherwise.…”

An Analysis of George Galloway's Oratorical and Rhetorical Impact

“…Of the existing literature, three key articles represent indicative illustrations of scholarship focused upon the Respect party. Timothy Peace (2012, p. 18) argues that its ‘major weakness has been the inability to implant itself nationwide with Respect branches effectively being restricted to London and Birmingham’. While this assessment reflects Respect's weakness prior to the Bradford West by-election, he nevertheless indicates an unresolved significant flaw in the party's electoral strategy – that of limited appeal.…”