As a preface I’d like to express my personal opinion about George Galloway, to prevent people from thinking that my views here are some kind of biased pro-Galloway rant. On 29 March 2012 George Galloway (in his own words) recorded “the most sensational lead to British by-election history, bar none”.
He overturned an enormous Labour majority in a “safe chair” (politics stronghold) they had maintained since 1973, whilst representing a “minor” party without any sitting MPs. On this landslide victory he polled that largest post battle percentage of the by-election vote and the second largest swing (52.8%) in by-election background.
Aside from the amazing statistics, the intensity of the surprise was magnified by the fact that the Bradford West by-election advertising campaign was hardly even covered by the mainstream London based press. Only The Guardian even bothered to send a reporter up to Bradford to protect it. When the news headlines of Galloway’s victory broke in the early hours of the following morning the mainstream press commentariat and the political establishment were utterly taken by shock.
I spent the next few days checking what the mainstream press and the below-the-line responses had to say, to be able to measure the press and public a reaction to Galloway’s amazingly comprehensive victory. It really is understandable that in the wake of unexpected happenings, reactionary views become common, since the mainstream media is not able to mentor the general public in the political nuances of the subject.
The most commonly occurring of these …
