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George Galloway says he will re-join Labour 'pretty damn quick' if Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader

He also said a Corbyn-led Labour party would have one million members by 2020

Friday 31 July 2015 00:05 BST

George Galloway during his campaigning efforts before the 2015 General Election (Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

Former MP George Galloway has said he would re-join the Labour Party if Jeremy Corbyn became its leader.

Galloway became Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead in 1987, and after that constituency was abolished before the 1997 election, he became Labour MP for its successor, Glasgow Kelvin.

He was expelled from the Labour party in 2003 for bringing the party into disrepute, after he called the then Labour Government "Tony Blair's lie machine", and said British troops fighting in Iraq should refuse to obey their orders.

He remained in his Glasgow seat until the next election, and then went on to join the Respect Party. He has represented the party in the Bethnal Green & Bow and Bradford West constituencies, but lost his Bradford Seat to Labour in May's general election.

However, speaking to Iain Dale on LBC Radio, Galloway said his opinions on the Labour party may change if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership bid.

When asked by Dale whether he would rejoin a Corbyn-led party, Galloway replied: "Definitely. Pretty damn quick. And I think hundreds of thousands of people would."

Earlier on the show, he threw more weight behind Corbyn, saying if he became Labour leader, "everyone on the left" would join or rejoin the party.

Despite his past success with Respect, he said: "I've always been a Labour man. I consider myself 'real Labour' - I've never been a Marxist or a Trotskyist, or any other kind of '-ist' other than a Labourist."

If current polls are to be believed, it may not be long until Galloway finds himself back in the party.

Internal Labour polls seen by the Mirror earlier this week showed that Corbyn has a huge 22-point lead in the race, with 42 per cent of party members intending to vote for him as their first choice, compared to 22.6 per cent for Yvette Cooper and 20 per cent for Andy Burnham.

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Show all 16

1/16The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Ed Balls

Ed Balls lost his seat in what was the biggest shock of an extraordinary night of election results. His defeat in compounded Labour's woes in a dismal night, which saw the party lose all but one of its Scottish MPs and will undoubtedly lead to Ed Miliband standing down.

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Nigel Farage

OK, so he came close to being upstaged by a professional comedian – Al Murray aka the Pub Landlord, had also lost in South Thanet. But as he lost his fight to become an MP and resigned his Ukip leadership, Nigel Farage did manage to get in a few gags. He began by railing against the editors of the The Sun and the Daily Mail, sarcastically calling them “geniuses”. But perhaps bearing the last election in mind, when he was in intensive care following an air crash, he said after the result that he felt “pretty good”. “Never felt happier,” in fact. A weight lifted off the old shoulders. Quite right too, old boy. More time for the saloon bar and a pint, or five.

AFP/Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Vince Cable

A huge scalp for the Conservatives, even though he was part of their coalition government. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary lost his Twickenham seat to Tory candidate Tania Mathias. Cable had held the seat since 1997 and was a strong figure in the Lib Dems, having previously been deputy leader.

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Jim Murphy

A sign of how dire things are in Scotland now for the Labour party. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, lost his Renfrewshire East to the SNP, having held the seat since 2005. He held a number of cabinet positions under the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Danny Alexander

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Clegg's right-hand man, Danny Alexander, lost his seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to the SNP. His aides admitted defeat several hours before the formal decision was due. There were suggestions that the SNP vote could be as high as 50 per cent.

BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Esther McVey

The Minister of State for Employment and one of the few women in David Cameron’s male-dominate cabinet, Esther McVey had only held Wirral West since 2010. Her 2,436 majority was overturned and Labour's Margaret Greenwood won the seat with a 417 majority.

BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

George Galloway

The former Labour MP had held the seat of Bradford West since 2012 for the Respect Party. He previously held the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect between 2005 and 2010, although he unsuccessfully contested Poplar and Limehouse in 2010.

Nigel Roddis | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Charles Kennedy

Another huge Lib Dem scalp, with the SNP taking the seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber from the former leader of the party. Kennedy had led the Lib Dems between 1999 and 2006 and had become something of an elder statesman of the party. He conceded defeat ahead of the official declaration and said he would not give any TV interviews. He had been an MP since 1983.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Douglas Alexander

The shadow Foreign Secretary and Ed Miliband's Chair of General Election Strategy, Danny Alexander had been the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 1997. He lost his seat to the SNP, with the party now holding a 9,076 majority. Labour's share of the vote was down by 21.3 per cent.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes held a key Liberal Democrat seat in London, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, which he held from 1983. Hughes is a former deputy leader of the Lib Dems and had been minister of state at the Ministry of Justice since 2013. He was previously the President of the party, as well as a two-time leadership candidate, and stood for the party in the 2004 Mayoral election.

Rob Stothard | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Mark Reckless

An MP for Rochester and Strood since 2010, Reckless switched from the Conservatives to Ukip in September 2014 and winning the seat outright in November. He was the second Ukip MP after Douglas Carswell, and his loss is a huge blow to Nigel Farage’s party.

Carl Court | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Margaret Curran

Margaret Curran had held Glasgow East since 2010 and was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. She had previously been the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston (a seat she might wish she still held, as it is still held by Labour under the title Glasgow Provan).

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

David Laws

A Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil since 2001, he was the minister of state for Schools. He had briefly been Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the 2010 election, only holding the office for 17 days after resigning due to the disclosure of his Parliamentary expenses claims. Laws was a key negotiator for the Lib Dems when the coalition was being formed five years ago.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Jo Swinson

On her election in 2005, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons. Under the Coalition government, the Lib Dem MP was the Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and for Women and Equalities. She lost her seat of East Dunbartonshire to the SNP's John Nicholson.

Matthew Lloyd | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Ed Davey

The Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997. Davey championed the Lib Dems' role in ensuring the Conservative-led Coalition championed the green agenda. However, the well-known Lib Dem MP lost his seat to the Tories, having held the seat in 2010 by 7,560 votes.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone lost her London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green to the Labour party. She was a former junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, then becoming junior minister with responsibility for international development.

Dan Kitwood | Getty Images

Galloway added that a Corbyn win would not only attract him, but hundreds of thousands of others to the party.

He said: "I would predict (and let's hope God spares us both and we can test this), that by 2020, the next General Election, a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour party would have one million members."

Ballots for the Labour leadership vote, which will use the Alternative Vote system, will be sent to members, affiliated supporters and registered supporters of the party on 14 August.

The vote closes on 10 September, and the result will be announced at a special party conference on 12 September.

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