The Respect Party was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

to far-left,

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

active in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

and nineteen councillors in

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

. The Respect Party was established in London by

Salma Yaqoob Salma Yaqoob (formally Jacob) (born 15 August 1971) is a British political activist and psychotherapist who served as the Leader of the Respect Party from 2005 until 2012, representing the party on Birmingham City Council. She led the Birming ...

and

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

in 2004. Arising in the aftermath of the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, it grew out of the

Stop the War Coalition The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. The Coalition has c ...

and from the start revolved largely around

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

to the United Kingdom's role in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

. Uniting a range of leftist and anti-war groups, it was unofficially allied to the

Muslim Association of Britain The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) is a British Sunni Muslim organisation founded in 1997. MAB has been well known for its participation in the protests opposing the Iraq War. More recently, it has been known for promoting Muslim partic ...

(MAB) and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), a far-left, Marxist group. In 2005, Respect's candidate George Galloway was elected MP for

Bethnal Green and Bow Bethnal Green and Bow is a constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party. Boundaries Since the 2014 boundary changes, the constituency has contained the ...

and the party came second in three other constituencies. Respect made further gains in the 2006 and 2007 local elections, at which point its support peaked. In 2007, a schism emerged in the party between SWP supporters and the

Respect Renewal Respect Renewal was a faction that existed during the 2007-8 split within Respect – The Unity Coalition, a UK political party. Respect Renewal was led by Linda Smith, the National Chair, Leader and Nominating Officer of Respect, and was formed ...

group led by Galloway and Yaqoob; the former group left the party to form the

Left List The Left List, later renamed the Left Alternative, was a political party active in the United Kingdom between 2008 and 2010. A minor party, it never had any of its candidates elected at any level of UK government although it inherited several lo ...

. Over the coming years, Respect gradually lost its council seats and it deregistered with the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

in 2016. Avowedly socialist and opposed to

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

, Respect called for the nationalisation of much of the UK economy, increased funding to public services, and further measures to tackle poverty and discrimination. It was Eurosceptic and promoted an

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

worldview. It was also anti-Zionist, opposing the existence of Israel and endorsing the Palestinian solidarity movement. Due to its links with MAB, several commentators claimed that Islamism was a component of its ideology and regarded it as part of a wider alliance between socialists and Islamists within

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. Respect's voting base was primarily among the

British Muslim Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the total population as 2,786,635, or 4.4% of the total UK population,East London,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and Bradford, where it built upon opposition to the Iraq War and disenchantment among leftist voters with the governing Labour Party.

Ideology

The political scientists Matthew Goodwin and Robert Ford characterised Respect as a "broad coalition of left-wing interests" which had arisen in opposition to the

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

government and the UK's involvement in the invasion of Iraq. Other political scientists characterised the party as far-left. The socialist activist

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and con ...

characterised the party's programme as being social democratic in orientation. Eran Benedek described the party as "an amalgamation of radical international socialism and Islamism", adding that its radical socialist position was informed by

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...

and

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

. Benedek characterised it as a manifestation of what

Amir Taheri Amir Taheri ( fa, امیر طاهری; born 9 June 1942) is an Iranian-born columnist and activist author based in Europe. His writings focus on the Middle East affairs and topics related to Islamic terrorism. He has been the subject of many c ...

called the "Marxist-Islamist coalition" which united around opposition to the United States, a desire to destroy the state of Israel, and a wish to overthrow international capitalism. Similarly, Emmanuel Karagiannis characterised the party as "the epitome" of the "convergence" between radical left and Islamist groups in Western Europe.

Socialism and anti-capitalism

The party's policies have been described as "traditionally leftist and anti-capitalist". Respect encouraged the nationalisation of many sectors of the economy, including the railways, water, gas, electricity, and the

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea ...

industry. It urged a substantial increase in

corporation tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed a ...

in order to increase funding to public services. It sought to overturn what it described as "anti-trade union" legislation, and to introduce policies to deal with issues of poverty and discrimination. Respect promoted

revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolut ...

and

international socialism Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all communist revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events. It is based on the theory that ...

. The party was largely hostile to Western

and

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

, and interpreted many world events through the prism of anti-imperialism, calling for an end to what it characterised as imperialist wars like that in Iraq. Respect was anti-globalization, believing that it resulted in the exploitation of the working class. It also expressed a Eurosceptic approach to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, deeming the Union to be lacking in democracy and exploitative toward the working class.

Anti-Zionism

Respect was anti-Zionist and, according to Benedek, rejected "the right to independent Jewish statehood in Israel". It presented this position through the terminology of

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. One of its core principles was stated support for the

Palestinian people Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

and opposition to what Respect described as "the apartheid system that oppresses them". It was constitutionally committed to supporting the

Palestine Solidarity Campaign The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was incorporated in the UK in 2004 as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd. They officially support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement ...

and the boycotting of Israel. It calls for Israel to withdraw from any land conquered in 1967, and for the right of return to be granted to all Palestinians forced to move on the formation of the state of Israel in 1948. On its website and published fliers, it included maps of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

in which the entirety of Israel was labelled "Occupied Palestine". In 2017, the party's website asserts: "Respect supports the idea of a democratic bi-national solution of one state from the Jordan River to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

in which all people, Jews, Muslims and Christians live equally; one man, one woman, one vote" and says British foreign policy should recognise Britain's "partial responsibility for the problem by their participation in the creation of the state of Israel". According to the party's national council member

Yvonne Ridley Yvonne Ridley (born 23 April 1958) is a British journalist, author and politician who holds several committee positions with the Alba Party in Scotland. She was a former chair of the National Council of the now-defunct Respect Party. Ridley m ...

, speaking at London's Imperial College in February 2006, Respect "is a Zionist-free party... if there was any Zionism in the Respect Party they would be hunted down and kicked out." The rejection of Israel's right to exist and the characterisation of it as a garrison of

American imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conques ...

in the Middle East had been espoused by the SWP even prior to the establishment of Respect. In February 2013, George Galloway walked out of a debate organised by Christ Church, Oxford because his opponent was an Israeli citizen. He explained his actions thus: "The reason is simple: no recognition, no normalisation. Just boycott, divestment and sanctions, until the apartheid state is defeated. I never debate with Israelis nor speak to their media. If they want to speak about Palestine – the address is the PLO."Warren Murray and Sam Jone
"George Galloway refuses to debate with Israeli student at Oxford"
''The Guardian'', 21 February 2013; retrieved 21 February 2013. The Zionist Federation called it a "racist" walkout displaying "xenophobic" tendencies. Respect was supportive of anti-Zionist Islamist militant groups like Hezbollah and

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam ...

. In July 2006, Respect official

Lindsey German Lindsey Ann German
''Evening Standard'' (This is London), 14 May 2004 (born 1951) is a ...

stated that "whatever disagreements I have with Hamas and Hezbollah, I would rather be in their camp... they want democracy. Democracy in the Middle East ''is'' Hamas, ''is'' Hezbollah". Galloway met with Hamas leader

Khaled Mashal Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas. After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of t ...

In September 2006, and that November the party's national-secretary John Rees attended the Beirut International Conference organised by Hezbollah.

History

Formation: 2004

Respect emerged from the British anti-war movement which had developed from late 2001 onward. The

(StWC) had been established in September 2001, with a central role being played by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which was then the largest radical left group in the UK. The StWC's president was

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

, a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) until 2001, while it also gained the support of several rebel Labour MPs, among them Katy Clark,

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

Tam Dalyell Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 198 ...

, Alice Mahon, and George Galloway. The StWC had also attracted significant support from within Britain's Muslim community, and the

(MAB) officially affiliated itself with the coalition. The movement politicised a large number of young British Muslims, among them

, who became the head of the StWC branch in

. Galloway later revealed that, about a year before the UK and US launched the Iraq War, he had broached the subject of leaving Labour and establishing a new party with his friends

Seumas Milne Seumas Patrick Charles Milne (born 5 September 1958)Winchester College: A Register. Edited by P.S.W.K. McClure and R.P. Stevens, on behalf of the Wardens and Fellows of Winchester College. 7th edition, 2014. pp. 582 (Short Half 1971 list heading) ...

and Andrew Murray. At the time—he later stated—he was of the view that UK Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

and US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

had already committed themselves to invading Iraq. Galloway was vocal in his opposition to Blair's calls for an invasion, and in May 2003 he was suspended from the Labour Party and then expelled in October, having been found to have brought it into disrepute. He then announced that he would stand against Labour in the 2004 European Parliament elections, and that he would "seek to unify the red, green, anti-war, Muslim and other social constituencies radicalised by the war, in a referendum on Tony Blair". The two main instigators of the party were Yaqoob and

, a journalist with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. They had been part of a discussion surrounding the unification of a broad range of anti-war forces that were to the left of Labour, a successor to the Socialist Alliance electoral list that had contested the 2001 general election. They wanted to reach out beyond the far left's traditional support base and gain support from peace activists and religious groups, particularly the Muslim community. In November 2003, a number of public meetings were held under the title of "British Politics at the Crossroads", at which it was agreed that a new political party should be established. At a convention on 24 January 2004, the party, titled "Respect – the Unity Coalition", was officially declared. The name "RESPECT" was a contrived acronym for respect,

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

, and

trade unionism A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

. Galloway said in April 2004: "Respect. It's a young word. It's a black word. It's the first postmodern name for an electoral political movement; most are one or other arrangement of the words The, Something, and Party. With respect, we're different." Opposition to the Iraq War was the party's primary issue, around which it galvanised much of its support. At its foundation, the party also called for a halt to privatisation and the renationalisation of the British railways. Although it did not secure the full backing of any major trade unions, some local branches of the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch. The RMT is on ...

(RMT)—which had disaffiliated from Labour in February 2004—voted to support Respect. Although containing members from both the SWP and MAB, Respect was not a formal coalition between the two groups. From the beginnings of Respect, there remained tension within the party between SWP members and Muslim leaders. This alliance was also criticised by some observers; in June 2004, the political commentator

Nick Cohen Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for '' The Observer'' and a blogger for '' The Spectator''. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and be ...

wrote that "for the first time since the Enlightenment, a section of the left is allied with religious fanaticism and, for the first time since the Hitler-Stalin pact, a section of the left has gone soft on fascism." Respect initially tried to form an electoral pact with the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

but this proved unsuccessful. The Greens stated that they had selected their candidates for the 2004 European Parliamentary elections by postal ballot months previously and that they were also sceptical of the SWP's influence over Respect. After Respect decided to stand candidates against the Greens, Monbiot stepped down from the party in February 2004, claiming that to compete against the Greens might threaten the positions of "two of the best elected representatives in Britain", the Green

Members of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEPs) Caroline Lucas and

Jean Lambert Jean Denise Lambert (born Jean Denise Archer; 1 June 1950 in Orsett, Essex) is an English politician, and who served as a Member of the European Parliament for the London Region between 1999 and 2019. Early life and career She attended Palmer ...

Early electoral campaigns: 2004–05

Respect fielded candidates for both the 2004 elections for the European Parliament (EP) and for the London Assembly, attempting to present these elections as a referendum on Blair's Labour government. The party claims that this support was achieved primarily as a result of the

anti-war protests An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

and by attracting votes from "disillusioned" Labour voters. The party was widely derided in the British media, which viewed Respect as a single-issue party that would soon disappear from British politics. Respect polled a quarter of a million votes in the EP election. Its proportion of the national vote was 1.7%, which grew to 5% in London, although it failed to win any seats. The strong showing of the Greens and the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

had been part of the reason for this failure to secure a seat. In the London Assembly election, Respect secured 4.5% of the vote, meaning that they did not secure a seat on the Assembly. However, within both the London Borough of Newham and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets—both areas with large Muslim populations—Respect secured the largest number of votes, with over 20% in both. Respect mocked Ken Livingstone's Labour candidacy as the "Blair Mayor Project". Respect's first election victory was in the council by-election for the St Dunstan's and Stepney Green ward of Tower Hamlets, where its candidate, Oliur Rahman, secured 31% of the vote. At the

Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Hodge Hill is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons since 2004 by Liam Byrne, a member of the Labour Party (UK), Lab ...

and Leicester South by-elections, both held on 15 July 2004, the party gained 6.3% and 12.7% of the vote respectively. At the time, following defections from other parties, Respect had a council seat in Nuneaton and another in Preston. RESPECT Bus manchester

The coalition put up candidates in 26 constituencies across England and Wales, just under half of them from the SWP. However, Britain's

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

electoral system made it difficult for small parties to make gains unless they geographically concentrated their vote. Respect recognised that East London, an area with large numbers of Muslim

British Bangladeshis British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term c ...

, would be electorally lucrative, particularly as three of the area's four sitting Labour MPs had voted in favour of British participation in the invasion of Iraq. At the 2005 general election Respect fielded candidates in this area: Lindsey German in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

, Abdul Khaliq Mian in East Ham, Rahman in Poplar and Canning Town, and Galloway in

. Galloway sought to unseat the sitting Labour MP,

Oona King Oona Tamsyn King, Baroness King of Bow (born 22 October 1967) is a business executive and former British Labour Party politician. She was a Labour Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 until 2005. Early life Oona King was ...

, and the ensuing campaign for the seat has been cited as "one of the most acrimonious in recent history". King accused Galloway of sexual impropriety, although was later forced to retract those allegations. She alleged that she had been the victim of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

from Respect supporters after having been pelted with eggs at a Jewish memorial service. She also claimed that Respect canvassers had urged Muslims not to vote for her because she is Jewish. Respect threatened legal action if King repeated the claim. Respect won 0.3% of the national vote, with an average of 6.8% of the vote in the constituencies it had contested; 17 of its candidates failed to have their deposits returned. However, Galloway won the seat of Bethnal Green and Bow by a narrow margin of 823 votes. Galloway's surprise victory provided much momentum for his party. His victory represented the first time that a party to the left of Labour had won a seat in the Houses of Parliament since 1951. Respect also did well in several other constituencies, coming second to Labour in both West Ham and East Ham, and also securing second place in Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, where Yaqoob had been its candidate, securing 27.5% of the vote. Respect made "rapid progress", aided by growing finances and the existing campaign experience of the far left. By the end of 2005, in the London Borough of Newham, two Labour and one

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

councillor had defected to Respect. By December 2005, it had an official membership of 5,674. Galloway, however, told Decca Aitkenhead in April 2012 for a ''Guardian'' profile that Respect, at its peak, only had about 3–4,000 members. Its university wing, Student Respect, claimed by 2007 to have branches in over fifty campuses across England and Wales. Benedek suggested that this probably made it the fastest growing student political group in the UK. The SWP's student group, the Socialist Worker Student Society (SWSS), encouraged its members to join Respect and became largely dormant.

Local electoral victories: 2006–07

In 2006, Galloway appeared on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's reality television show ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

''. His hope was to use it as a public relations exercise in which he could promote his views to a wider audience, however this backfired as Channel 4 producers censored most of his political discussions. Media attention instead focused on the fact that he had seemingly abandoned his constituents to appear in the show and on an episode in which he had impersonated a cat. This did little to damage Respect's electoral appeal. Respect stood about 150 candidates in the 2006 local elections, at which it secured 16 seats. At Respect's campaign launch, Galloway anticipated a "referendum on new Labour", and said the election "will be the last blow that will knock out Tony Blair". In Tower Hamlets, Respect took eleven new council seats, giving it a total of twelve and making it the borough's official opposition to Labour. In Newham, Respect gained 26% of the vote and returned its three councillors, although was disappointed not to gain further ones. In Birmingham, Respect gained 55% of the vote in the Sparkbrook ward and Yaqoob was elected as the city's first female Muslim councillor. None of the new Respect councillors were connected with the SWP. Galloway explained at the time that many Respect supporters "are small business people and wouldn't describe themselves as socialists and are not bound to accept it." Respect stood 48 candidates in the 2007 local election, of which three were elected. The party had peaked, and following this would witness a decline. In July 2007, Galloway was suspended from the House of Commons for 18 days after the standards and privileges commit accused him of a lack of transparency in the financing of is charity, the Mariam Appeal. In August, a Respect councillor in Tower Hamlets resigned, triggering a by-election which Harun Miah narrowly secured for Respect.

Schism: 2007

The SWP had been members of Respect's "Unity Coalition" since its early years, although relations between them and Galloway had been strained. In August 2007 he wrote a letter to the party's national council stating that Respect had various internal weaknesses, with many deeming this a veiled criticism of the SWP. This generated rifts within the SWP itself as two of its members were expelled for refusing to step down as Galloway's parliamentary assistants. By October, SWP publications were claiming that there was a "witch hunt" against socialists within Respect, despite the presence of socialist groups other than the SWP. That month, disagreements between Rahman and Abjol Miah, leader of the Respect group in Tower Hamlets, resulted in four of the borough's councillors resigning the Respect Party whip. By November 2007, Respect had split into two rival factions. The first consisted largely of members affiliated with the SWP and included the rebel councillors from Tower Hamlets. The second, which named itself

, was led by Galloway and Yaqoob and had the support of virtually all of the party's elected representatives and national council. According to political scientist Timothy Peace, these events were "characteristic of the faction fighting that has always plagued the radical left." The SWP-allied faction controlled the party's website and claimed that Galloway had simply left the party, of which they were the rightful representatives. The Respect Renewal group changed the locks of the party's national office and barred access to SWP supporters. On 17 November, both groups held conferences at which they claimed to be the legitimate manifestation of Respect. The

subsequently ruled that control of the party's name rested with

Fire Brigades Union The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime firefighters (including officers up to chief fire officer / firemaster), retained firefighters and emergency control room staff. History The first recorded ins ...

activist Linda Smith, the nominating officer; she had sided with Galloway, meaning that the Respect Renewal group were able to continue using the name. The SWP faction split and began using the name

. The SWP attributed the split to a shift to the right by Galloway and his allies, motivated by electoralism (seeking to gain Muslim votes) and attacks on the left.Alex Nunn
"Car crash on the left"
''Red Pepper'', December 2007. This opinion was shared by

Hilary Wainwright Hilary Wainwright (born 1949) is a British sociologist, political activist and socialist feminist, best known for being a co-editor of '' Red Pepper'' magazine. Early life and education Wainwright's father was the Liberal MP Richard Wainwr ...

, who saw a common pattern of "leaderism" in this and other leftist debacles, although she thought Galloway possessed positive qualities. SWP-dominated branches of Respect were reportedly less active than those with far fewer members of that group. A narrow failure of John Rees in 2006 to gain election in the Tower Hamlets local elections, while the 12 candidates from the Bangladeshi community were all elected, was also alleged to have alienated the SWP from the project. In December 2009, the party de-registered (removed) itself from the Register of Political Parties for Northern Ireland, but remained registered for England, Scotland and Wales.

Decline: 2008–2010

Respect went into gradual decline after 2008. By this point its primary unifying issue, anger at Labour over the Iraq War, had become less salient, with the political scientist Stephen Driver suggesting that for this reason Respect "struggled to be anything more than a one-trick pony". The party was in disarray following the schism and only forwarded one candidate for the 2008 London Assembly elections. This candidate, Hanif Abdulmuhit, stood for the City and East constituency and secured 15% of the vote but trailed behind their Labour and Conservative Party rivals. Overall Respect attained 2.4% of the London Assembly vote, below the 5% threshold needed to secure a seat. Galloway had headed the Respect (London-wide) top-up list. Respect had not fielded a candidate for London Mayor, instead endorsing Labour's Ken Livingstone, while Left List had fielded German, who secured significantly fewer votes than she had gained as a Respect candidate for Mayor in 2004. The outbreak of the 2008 Gaza War provided renewed impetus for Respect's campaigning. Throughout much of 2009, the party devoted much of its resources to raising funds for the

Viva Palestina Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * V ...

aid convoy to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. The first convoy, which set off from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in February 2009, was led by Respect member Kevin Ovenden. Salma Yaqoob

Respect Renewal stood 10 candidates in the local council elections also taking place on 1 May across England and Wales. They returned one new councillor, Nahim Khan, in Birmingham Sparkbrook, who received 42.64% of the vote. The party did not field any candidates for the 2009 European Parliament elections, instead urging supporters to vote for either the Green Party or the left-wing Eurosceptic alliance,

No2EU No2EU is a left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. It was first founded in 2009 when it campaigned under the campaign slogan ''No2EU — Yes to Democracy''; it was led by Bob Crow and backed by the National Union of Rai ...

. Instead,

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984–85), a major event in the history of ...

's Socialist Labour Party proved to be the most successful radical left party in the election, securing 1.1% of the national vote. Respect fielded ten candidates in the 2010 general election, with a particular focus on three that they considered winnable. The party's manifesto highlighted that a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

would be likely, and that if there were three Respect MPs in the House of Commons then they would have a chance of forming a coalition with a minority government. Their three targeted seats were Birmingham Hall Green, which was being contested by Yaqoob—who was then party leader— Poplar and Limehouse, which was contested by Galloway, and Galloway's existing seat of Bethnal Green and Bow, which was being defended by Miah. The election however proved disastrous for Respect. Labour secured all three of the seats that Respect had targeted, with Galloway and Miah being pushed into third place with 17% of the vote. Nationwide it had secured 33,251 votes, less than half of that which it had attained in the 2005 general election. Local elections were held on the same day which also resulted in significant losses for Respect; in Tower Hamlets it went from having eight councillors to one, and in Newham is lost all its councillors. However the party had better results elsewhere. In Birmingham Hall Green constituency Respect candidate

performed better, receiving 12,240 votes, 25.1%, placing second after Labour candidate

Roger Godsiff Roger Duncan Godsiff (born 28 June 1946) is a British former politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 to 2019, for the seats of Birmingham Small Heath, Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, and Birmingham Ha ...

, who received 16,039 votes, 32.9%. Respect fielded eight more candidates in other constituencies, who together polled 4,319 votes. Arshad Ali received 1,245 votes, 3.1%, in Bradford West, and Kay Phillips received 996 votes, 2.9%, in Blackley and Broughton. In total, Respect candidates received 33,269 votes, which amounted to 6.8% of the total vote in the constituencies where they stood and 0.1% of the total UK vote. During the 2010 General Election the Green Party stood down in favour of Respect candidates in Birmingham Sparkbrook and Manchester, Blackley and Broughton indicating the beginning of a tentative co-operation. Galloway told Decca Aitkenhead in April 2012: "When we lost the three parliamentary seats in 2010 that we'd hoped to win, we became almost minuscule"; Respect he said then had about 8-900 members. Abjol Miah was elected as the National Chair of Respect in January 2011. After the introduction of directly elected mayors in Tower Hamlet—something that Respect had campaigned for locally—the party backed the successful independent candidate Lutfur Rahman.

2012: Galloway wins Bradford West by-election

In 2011, Galloway tried to become a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP). On 5 May 2011, in the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...

, the Respect Party, on whose list Galloway stood in the Glasgow electoral region, received 6,972 votes (3.3%). He campaigned under the banner of Coalition Against the Cuts, but the vote was insufficient to gain a seat in the Scottish proportional voting system. In the Birmingham City Council elections of 2011, Respect lost one of its three councillors to Labour. In July, Yaqoob then resigned due to health reasons, leaving the party with only one councillor in the city. Galloway successfully contested Bradford West in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held on 29 March, following the resignation of Labour MP

Marsha Singh Marsha Singh (11 October 1954 – 17 July 2012) was a British Labour Party politician, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West from 1997 to 2012. Singh stood down due to ill health. Singh had a degree in Languages, Politics and Eco ...

due to ill health. Galloway and his supporters, such as the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK), were active in a campaign against Imran Hussain, the Muslim deputy leader of Bradford City Council, whose commitment to his faith was queried because he is reported to drink alcohol. Meanwhile, one of Galloway's supporting speakers at a rally on the Sunday before the byelection was Abjol Miah, once group leader of the Respect councillors in Tower Hamlets, who is also active in the IFE.Andrew Gilliga
"Fundamentalist liar loses another complaint against us"
, ''Daily Telegraph'', 12 October 2010 Galloway was elected with a majority of 10,140 with one of the largest swings in the polls against the defending political party in modern political history.

2012: party resignations

Yaqoob resigned as party leader in September following Galloway's remarks about rape with respect to the Julian Assange case. She told a reporter from ''

'' that she had had to make a choice between "standing up for the rights of women" and her admiration for Galloway's "anti-imperialist stance". In October 2012, party secretary Chris Chilvers said Respect had 2,000 members, while before the by-election it had 300.Helen Pid
"George Galloway: is Bradford losing respect for its maverick MP?"
''The Guardian'', 14 October 2012 Arshad Ali, who succeeded Yaqoob as leader, resigned as national chair in December 2012 after it was discovered that he has a spent conviction for electoral fraud (dating from his time in the Labour Party), although at this point the Electoral Commission still had Yaqoob listed as the party's leader.

Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...

had originally been selected for the Manchester Central by-election, but stood down in early September following Galloway's comments on rape, and left the party in October. In the same month, Respect announced that Catherine Higgins, a local "community advocate", would contest the by-election on 15 November 2012. Higgins finished 9th out of 12 candidates. In November 2012, at a rally in Rotherham, Respect announced

had been chosen to contend the Rotherham by-election. The election took place on 29 November 2012; Ridley finished fourth with 8% of the vote, ahead of both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates, but behind UKIP and the BNP.

2012–15: Respect's Bradford councillors

Respect won five seats on Bradford Council in May 2012 following Galloway's success in the by-election at the end of March. Amid a fiercely fought campaign, there were claims and complaints of violence and harassment by the Respect Party and its opponents. The party came second in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

's Werneth ward and

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

' Weavers ward. After several months of inconclusive reports in the media, on 10 August 2013, the Bradford ''

Telegraph & Argus The ''Telegraph & Argus'' is the daily newspaper for Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is published six times each week, from Monday to Saturday inclusive. The newspaper has offices in Newhall Way, Bradford, from where its journalists work ...

'' reported that Galloway might not be a candidate in Bradford at the 2015 general election and instead stand in the

2016 London Mayoral election The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in Greate ...

.Dolores Cowbur
"George Galloway: 'I could stand for Mayor of London'"
''Telegraph & Argus'', 10 August 2013 The five Respect councillors in Bradford elected the previous year resigned from the party whip on 15 August 2013"Bradford councillors resign from Respect party"
BBC News, 15 August 2013 after coming into conflict with Galloway over his comments that he might run in the London mayoral election. They argued that the MP was needed in Bradford. Two of the councillors had said the MP should resign if he intended to stand in London; Galloway and his associates had immediately suspended them, although their three fellow council members were in agreement.Helen Pid
"George Galloway urged to resign as MP if he wants to be London mayor"
''The Guardian'', 13 August 2013. One of the other three councillors, Alyas Karmani, then leader of the Respect group on Bradford City Council, said the party had not, in fact, been consulted about Galloway's plans. Galloway had also claimed that the councillors were working against him and the party with Aisha Ali Khan, his former aide, and her husband. (Both Ali Khan and her husband later received criminal convictions related to her former employment by Galloway.) After no retraction of the assertions made against them had been forthcoming,Andrew Robinso
"No respect as Bradford councillors quit Galloway’s party"
''Yorkshire Post'', 25 October 2013. the five councillors entirely severed their connections with Respect towards the end of October and then intended to sit as independents for the remainder of their term of office. Claims that they had been "conniving" with Galloway's former aide were false, they said. A spokesman from Respect accused them of attempting to gain control of the party in Bradford. In the 2014 local elections, Respect stood eight candidates in Bradford, but none of them won in their council wards. Two other Respect councillors lost their seats, leaving Respect without any representation on local authorities. In 2014, the party had only 630 members and assets of £1,947. By that point, the party was largely a vehicle for Galloway's personality. This changed in March 2015 when 4 of the former Respect councillors rejoined and a Labour member of the council, Asama Javed, left the party and aligned herself with Respect. The remaining councillor of the five who resigned in August 2013, Mohammad Shabbir, announced he was joining the Labour group on the council in mid-April 2015 with immediate effect rather than rejoining Respect with his former colleagues. In July 2015, the four councillors who had rejoined reversed their decision and decided to continue under the Bradford Independent Group label, although rejoining Respect was still a possibility.

2015–16: general election and de-registration

At the 2015 general election, Respect had four candidates, in Halifax and two Birmingham seats (

Hall Green Hall Green is an area in southeast Birmingham, England, synonymous with the B28 postcode. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Historically it lay within the county of Worcestershire. Politics Hall Green i ...

and Yardley) in addition to Bradford West. Where Respect was not standing in the election, Galloway had urged a vote for Labour in 2013, having met and been impressed with then Labour leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...

. None of the Respect candidates were elected. In George Galloway's own seat, the 10,000 majority he had gained at the 2012 Bradford West by-election was reversed, and the Labour Party candidate Naz Shah became the constituency's MP with a majority of 11,420 votes. In December 2015, it became known that former Respect Party leader

had applied to join the Labour Party in Hall Green following

's election as leader. Her application was rejected by her local constituency Labour Party owing to her standing against Labour candidates. Robert Colvile reported in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' at the beginning of January 2016: Following his defeat in the 2015 general election, Galloway announced that he would stand as Respect's candidate in the

2016 London Mayoral Election The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in Greate ...

. During hustings, he praised newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but condemned Labour Mayoral candidate

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

as a "flip-flop merchant" and a "product of the Blairite machine". In the final result of the London Mayoral election held on 5 May 2016, Galloway came seventh with 37,007 (1.4%) first preference votes. After second preference were accounted for, Sadiq Khan became London mayor. Respect failed to hold any of their seats in Bradford in the 2016 local elections, leaving them without any representation at any level of government. The Respect Party "voluntarily deregistered" from the

's Register of Political Parties on 18 August 2016, twelve years after it initially registered.

Support

Voter base

Since its formation, Respect has presented itself as being "genuinely left" and has sought to appeal to leftist voters dissatisfied with the Labour Party's shift to the centre under the leadership of Blair and

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

. There has however been little electoral support for parties to the left of Labour in Britain, with the party having to seek out an alternative voting base. East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre - geograph

East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre - geograph

The primary electoral support for Respect came from the

British Muslim Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the total population as 2,786,635, or 4.4% of the total UK population,Islamic Party of Britain or the Muslim Party in Birmingham, however from its beginnings it did specifically target Muslims with its campaign material, characterising itself as "the party for Muslims" and focusing on issues of particular concern to British Muslim communities. A local election flyer printed in 2004 featured the slogan "George Galloway – Fighting for Muslim Rights!" It often fielded Muslim candidates to stand in largely Muslim areas, although this was not unusual in British politics, with Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats often doing the same. Respect's main electoral support base was in East London and Birmingham. However, there were other areas of Britain with large Islamic communities—such as

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and Leicester—where the party did not do well. Peace suggested that Respect had been successful in East London and Birmingham and not other areas with Muslim communities because these two areas had established anti-war movements and that Respect candidates had already become well known within that movement. It has also been suggested that Respect's connection to religious groups and

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s has been crucial to the party's success in many areas. It attracted some controversy for allegedly being tied to the

Islamic Forum of Europe The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) is an Islamic organisation based in the United Kingdom with affiliates in Europe.East London Mosque The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe accommodating ...

in Tower Hamlets. Both ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' and '' Dispatches'' have alleged that Respect activist Miah is an IFE member, although he has denied this.Andrew Gilliga
"'Britain's Islamic republic': full transcript of Channel 4 Dispatches programme on Lutfur Rahman, the IFE and Tower Hamlets"
, ''Daily Telegraph'', 22 October 2010.

Reception

Respect received little attention from scholars of politics. This may be due to the perception that it was a single-issue party that provided a protest vote among a particular community. As with the Greens, Respect were recognised as having radical views but were nonetheless widely regarded as a legitimate part of politics in the UK. In this they contrasted with the pariah status accorded to contemporary far right groups like the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

. In just over two years, it had gained the electoral success that it had taken the BNP twenty years to attain. Respect was controversial within Britain's far left movement. Far left criticisms of the party included that it was engaging in political opportunism, that it invited the petty bourgeoisie into the socialist workers' movement, and that it focused on the narrow sectarian interests of British Muslims rather than the socio-economic issues of the working-class and in doing so neglected feminism and LGBT rights. According to ''

'' journalist Dave Hill, Respect were "a case study in the British far left's enduring gift for self-parodic, self-destructive splits".

Criticisms of Respect

Equality

Respect has been accused of abandoning some traditional

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

issues, including women's rights, abortion, gay rights and fighting homophobia, to attract Muslim support. While Respect included opposition to discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in its founding declaration, critics claim that Galloway – during the time he was a Respect MP – tended to avoid parliamentary votes involving equal rights for gay people. In a 2006 interview with ''

PinkNews ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community ( LGBT) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in 2005. It closely follows political progress on LGBT rights a ...

'', Galloway praised New Labour's record on improving gay rights, and says of his absence from one vote that "there was never any doubt about the passage of the

civil partnerships A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

ill ILL may refer to: * '' I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibra ...

I wholly support it". According to a resolution at that year's conference, Respect's 2005 manifesto omitted the "defence of LGBT rights despite policy adopted at last year's AGM and contained in the founding statement". A resolution was passed calling for the end to all discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

people and that this policy would be stated in all of its manifestos and principal election materials. Despite this commitment, Respect and parts of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

community have clashed on several occasions. In November 2005, Respect's second largest single financial donor, Mohammad Naseem, was accused in an article by

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

of being homophobic due to his senior position in the Islamic Party of Britain, which Tatchell claimed advocated the "banning of gay organisations" and the "execution of homosexuals". Naseem, however, stated that the Islamic Party was now little more than a thinktank, and furthermore, disagreed with the statements on the Islamic Party website which Tatchell pointed to, stating his views on homosexuality as follows: "These things are a matter of personal choice ..I am not concerned with what people do in their bedrooms." Naseem was also present at Respect's 2005 conference, where the vote to reaffirm Respect's support of LGBT rights was passed unanimously. In January 2006, an article attacking Tatchell's opposition to the party was written by Respect member and journalist

Adam Yosef Adam Yosef (born September 1981) is a British journalist, photojournalist and political activist. Background Yosef was born in September 1981 in Marston Green, England and is of South Asian and Middle Eastern heritage. Activism In 2003, Y ...

. Writing for ''

Desi Xpress ''Desi Xpress'' was a weekly national entertainment newspaper, published in the United Kingdom by Urban Media Limited. Background ''Desi Xpress'' was first launched in the Midlands region in England in September 2004 before becoming national in S ...

'', Yosef accused Tatchell of

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

but was attacked by gay organisations for "encouraging violence against Tatchell" and for using "xenophobic" and "homophobic" language. Yosef also used other articles to attack

same-sex union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

s, describing them as a front for "

tax fraud Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

". Tatchell called on Respect to expel Yosef but the party responded with the following statement: "Adam Yosef has the right to voice his own opinions in his own column – they range from an ecstatic review of Birmingham's gay pride to venting his thoughts about Peter Tatchell." However, in October 2009, Yosef pledged his formal support to Tatchell's 2010 general election parliamentary candidacy, calling for the left to "embrace a mutual personal and political commitment towards equality and human rights".

Antisemitism

Abul Hussain, a former member of Respect's national council, posted antisemitic comments on Facebook and was expelled for his comments in September 2010. The councillor joked about chopping off a Jewish person's sidelocks and confiscating their kippah. He also wrote about Jews, "Here's a penny go put it in the bank and oujust might get a pound after ten years interest!". The Respect Party stated that "such views are demonstrably incompatible with party membership". In 2011 Carole Swords, of Bow, the chairwoman of the Respect Party in Tower Hamlets, was convicted for a public order offence after an altercation with a Jewish counter-protester, Harvey Garfield, at a protest inside a Covent Garden Tesco Metro supermarket. She was alleged to have struck him in the face, smacking off his eyeglasses, while he was protecting Israeli goods from potentially being damaged.Marcus Dysc
"Tower Hamlets Respect chair guilty of assault at Tesco demo"
''The Jewish Chronicle'', 2 February 2012 A subsequent appeal in December cleared her of the offence. Swords' defence team claimed Garfield had harassed and intimidated Swords inside the supermarket, and alleging he had called her a "Nazi", a "fishwife" and a "terrorist". The recorder determined that Garfield had followed Swords inside the Tesco and that she had demanded he desist. The recorder could not determine how Garfield's glasses had fallen based on the store footage, and allowed the appeal. Swords had earlier described Zionists as "cockroaches ... bugs

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

need to be stomped out" and at a different rally, Swords had told a Jewish protester to "go back to Russia". Following Naz Kahn's appointment as Respect's women's officer in Bradford in October 2012, it emerged that Kahn had recently commented on Facebook that "history teachers in our school" were and are "the first to start brainwashing us and our children into thinking the bad guy was Hitler. What have the Jews done good in this world??"Jennifer Lipma
"Respect activist: was Hitler the bad guy?"
''The Jewish Chronicle'', 25 October 2012. When she re-emerged in 2017, Naz Kahn was known as Nasreen Khan, see

David Aaronovitch David Morris Aaronovitch (born 8 July 1954) is an English journalist, television presenter and author. He is a regular columnist for ''The Times'' and the author of ''Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country'' (2000), ''Voodoo ...

in ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' wrote: What have the Jews done good in this world?' clearly means 'The Jews do only bad'. The Jews haven't suffered as much as they say they have, but insofar as they have suffered it's their own fault and, in any case, they have gone on to inflict equal or more suffering on others. That's 'the Jews' as a group, not 'many Jews', 'some Jews' or 'a few Jews'." Ron McKay, Galloway's spokesman, said Kahn's comments had been written shortly before she joined Respect, on an "unofficial site" (the Respect Bradford Facebook page), and that she "now deeply regrets and repudiates that posting". The last formal leader of Respect, George Galloway, has been accused by ''

'' journalist

Hadley Freeman Hadley Clare Freeman (born 15 May 1978) is an American British journalist based in London. She writes for ''The Sunday Times'', having previously written for ''The Guardian''. Early life Freeman was born in New York City to a Jewish family. ...

of having "said and done things that cross the line from anti-Israel to antisemitic". He threatened to sue her for the comments made on Twitter in February 2015, although the tweet had already been deleted. Her tweet followed the ''Question Time'' George Galloway in Finchley controversy, an edition of the BBC's political debate series on which Freeman's ''Guardian'' colleague

Jonathan Freedland Jonathan Saul Freedland (born 25 February 1967) is a British journalist who writes a weekly column for ''The Guardian''. He presents BBC Radio 4's contemporary history series ''The Long View''. Freedland also writes thrillers, mainly under the ...

had also appeared and made similar assertions about Galloway's conduct. Galloway's support for

Hizbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramili ...

and

, his refusal to debate with Israeli Jews, and his declaration of Bradford as being an "Israeli-free zone" are among the issues which have led to the attitudes of the politician being thought suspect.

References

Sources

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External links

Respect publications
''Peace Justice Equality: the Respect manifesto for the May 2005 election'' 727 KB PDF document
Retrieved 5 May 2005.
''Where now for Respect?'' 435 KB PDF document
John Rees, Respect National Secretary. 22 June 2004. Archived fro
the original
on 4 December 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2005. {{Authority control Anti-austerity political parties in the United Kingdom Anti-Zionism in the United Kingdom Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 2004 Political parties disestablished in 2016 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom 2016 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Far-left politics in the United Kingdom