George Galloway

George Galloway was born on August 16, 1954, in Dundee, Scotland. His early political career began with the Labour Party Young Socialists at age 13. He became secretary of the Dundee Labour Party and, at 26, the youngest-ever chair of the Scottish Labour Party in March 1981, a position he held for one year. From 1983 to 1987, Galloway served as the general secretary of War on Want, a British charity focused on global poverty. During his tenure, he traveled extensively, documenting famine in Eritrea in 1985 through accounts published in “The Sunday Times” and “The Spectator.” His time at War on Want was marked by an internal investigation into expenses, which ultimately cleared him of misuse of funds, though he repaid contested amounts.

His parliamentary career began in 1987 when he was elected as the Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead, defeating Roy Jenkins. He continued to represent Glasgow Kelvin from 1997 until his expulsion from the Labour Party in 2003 due to his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. Following his expulsion, Galloway co-founded the Respect Party in 2004, serving as its leader from 2013 to 2016. He returned to parliament as the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005 and later for Bradford West in a 2012 by-election. Notably, in 2009, he initiated the “Viva Palestina” aid convoy to the Gaza Strip, raising funds for humanitarian assistance. More recently, in 2019, he founded the Workers Party of Britain and successfully won the Rochdale by-election in February 2024, campaigning against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, although he subsequently lost the seat in the 2024 general election. Throughout his career, Galloway has been a prominent and often controversial figure in British politics.