Respect Party aims for local council seats after Galloway win

The Respect Party will field candidates in every ward at Bradford's forthcoming local-council elections following George Galloway's shock by-election victory in the city.

Mr Galloway overturned a majority of more than 5,000 standing for the party in the Bradford West constituency – a seat held by Labour for nearly 40 years.

Respect said that it would now be turning its attention to the local-council elections, which are to take place on 3 May. Voters will choose one councillor in each of the metropolitan district council's 30 wards.

MPs from the three major parties have described Mr Galloway's victory as a one-off. The shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, yesterday blamed her party's failure to connect with the Asian community for the loss. "I think it is the case that Labour wasn't connecting enough with young voters in Bradford's Asian community," she told the BBC.