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George Galloway's Biography

 
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George Galloway was born on 16 August 1954 in Dundee.

George Galloway joined the Labour Party when he was 15, and became the youngest constituency party secretary in Dundee in 1972, and then the youngest Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party in 1981.

From 1982 to 1987 Galloway was General Secretary of War On Want, where he denied accusations that he indulged in a lavish lifestyle that cost £21,000 in travel and entertainment expenses. Galloway was cleared by an independent auditor's report.

In 1987 George Galloway won Glasgow Hillhead from one of the SDP's 'Gang of Four', Roy Jenkins.

A supporter of Celtic and Dundee United, Galloway scored a goal for the MPs v the Lobby.

In 2002, Galloway caused the first ever suspension of Westminster Hall after refusing to withdraw his allegation that Ben Bradshaw was "a liar".

Bradshaw had described Galloway as "a mouthpiece to the Iraqi regime over many years".

George Galloway was famously expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 as a result of his stance on the Iraq war. Labour chairman Ian McCartney said Galloway's comments: "incited foreign forces to rise up against British troops".

Galloway had accused Tony Blair and George W. Bush of acting "like wolves" in invading Iraq.

Since then, George Galloway has been a leading figure in the anti-war party, Respect - The Unity Coalition.

In the run-up to the 2005 general election, Galloway's Palestinian-born wife, Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, told the Sunday Times that she intended to divorce him over his friendships with other women.

Indeed, on 19 January 2009, George Galloway was divorced by his second wife "on the uncontested ground that the marriage had irretrievably broken down because of her husband's unreasonable behaviour."

In December 2004, George Galloway won his libel case against the Daily Telegraph over their claims, published in April 2003, that he received money from Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Galloway denied seeking or receiving money from Saddam Hussein's government saying he had long opposed it.

On 5 May 2005, standing as a Respect candidate, George Galloway narrowly took the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency from the Labour Party.

In January 2006, George Galloway entered Celebrity Big Brother.

Galloway was evicted on 25 January and his eviction coincided with The Sun releasing footage of him laughing and joking with Saddam Hussein's son, Uday.

The day was not all bad for Galloway as the Court of Appeal rejected the Daily Telegraph's claim to have the libel verdict in favour of Galloway overturned.

George Galloway's profile has remained high. He had a chat show on Talksport and was one of the guest presenters of Big Brother's Big Mouth in 2007.

On 8 June 2007, George Galloway was criticised by The Charity Commission in regard to donations to the charity he set up called the Mariam Appeal. Galloway rejected the allegations against him as "palpably false".

A month later George Galloway faced suspension from Parliament for 18 days, on the basis of a Committee on Standards and Privileges recommendation.

The BBC reported that "MPs said he "damaged the reputation of the House" in his comments about the inquiry into his Mariam Appeal charity."

On 8 January 2010, the BBC reported that George Galloway had been deported from Egypt according to activists working with him to take an aid convoy into Gaza.

In the May 2010 general election, George Galloway came third in Poplar and Limehouse and so his Respect Party lost its only seat.

On 29 March 2012, George Galloway won the Bradford West by-election by 10,140 votes. However, on 7 May 2015, George Galloway lost the Bradford West Commons, losing out to Labour's Naz Shah, by more than 11,000 votes.

On 28 May 2015, he announced that he would stand for being the next mayor of London.

In 2024, George Galloway won the Rochdale by-election, standing for the Workers Party for Britain.



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