George Galloway launches legal challenge to his election defeat in Bradford West

Former Respect MP says he has made a complaint under the Representation of the People Act

Respect Party Leader George Galloway (AP)

Former MP George Galloway is to mount a legal challenge against his general election defeat, he has said.

Mr Galloway, who leads the Respect party, lost his Bradford West seat in the general election last week.

He alleges that victorious Labour candidate Naz Shah, made “false statements” during the campaign and affected the result.

“We've begun legal proceedings seeking to have result of the [Bradford] West election set aside. I cannot therefor discuss my own election for now,” he tweeted.

In a further statement he added: “It has come to my notice that there has been widespread malpractice in this election, particularly over postal voting.

“We are in the process of compiling the information which will form part of our petition to have the result set aside.”

A complaint has been made under section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which covers false statements during campaigns.

The complaint concerns a statement allegedly made on a “well-watched Asian TV show”.

A Labour spokesperson said: “George Galloway should accept he was booted out by the people of Bradford West. They saw through his divisive politics and made a positive choice, by a majority of well over 11,000, to elect a brilliant new MP, Naz Shah.”

Mr Galloway was elected to his Bradford seat in 2010, after serving for one parliament as MP for the East London seat of Bethnal Green and Bow.

He was previously a Labour MP in Glasgow between 1987 and 2005.