Workers Party of Britain

The Workers Party of Britain (WPB), also called the Workers Party of Great Britain (WPGB) or Workers Party GB,  is a socialist and socially conservative political party in the United Kingdom, led by and identified with politician George Galloway.

The party was founded in 2019 and won a parliamentary seat when Galloway won the Rochdale by-election in February 2024. However, he lost his seat to Paul Waugh of the Labour Party five months later in the general election in July 2024.

As of July 2024, the party has five local councillors and no seats in the House of Commons.

Foundation and early activities
The Workers Party of Britain was founded in response to the Labour Party's landslide defeat at the 2019 United Kingdom general election and the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party. The founding of the Workers Party of Britain was welcomed by the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) (CPGB-ML). Joti Brar, a vice-chair of the CPGB-ML, was elected as the Workers Party of Britain's deputy leader at its founding congress. In March 2021, the party stood its first candidate for elected office, Paul Burrows, in the by-election for Helensburgh and Lomond South ward on Argyll and Bute Council. Burrows came last out of six, gaining 22 votes (0.9%). In the 2021 United Kingdom local elections, the party stood more than 40 candidates for local elections in England.

Batley and Spen by-election
The WPB contested its first parliamentary seat at the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, with Galloway as its candidate. Galloway gained 8,264 votes (21.9%) and came in third, behind the winning Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater and second placed Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson. The Liberal Democrats came in fourth place, as they did in the previous election. Galloway concentrated on the issues of the Palestinian territories, the Kashmir conflict, criticism of Labour leader Keir Starmer, the suspension of a teacher for showing a cartoon of Muhammad at Batley Grammar School, and the reopening of a police station in Batley. The campaign received considerable media attention due to incidents of harassment during its final days. The Jewish Labour Movement called the result a "triumph for hope and decency" over Galloway's "toxic politics". Galloway vowed to challenge the result on the basis of an alleged "false statement" made about him by Leadbeater and Starmer, which he said tipped the result of the by-election.

The party contested the Almond ward of Edinburgh Council in the 2022 Scottish local elections, and came second to last with 61 first-preference votes (0.4%). In the 2022 local elections, Workers Party candidate Ed Woollard achieved 15% of the vote in the Bordesley and Highgate ward of Birmingham.

In 2023, the former Labour MP Chris Williamson joined the party. The Workers Party has defended Williamson, who was suspended from the Labour Party for his comments about antisemitism allegations in the Labour Party, and Ken Livingstone, who left the party following allegations of antisemitism.

At the party's Congress in December 2023, Galloway was re-elected party leader. Three deputy leaders were elected: Chris Williamson, Andy Hudd (Vice President of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) and Peter Ford (former Ambassador to Bahrain and Syria).

Rochdale by-election
On 29 February 2024, Galloway won the 2024 Rochdale by-election. The Israel–Hamas war dominated the campaign. In his election speech, Galloway said: "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine, in the Gaza Strip." Galloway won almost 40% of the vote and overturned a previous Labour majority of 9,668, achieved by former MP Tony Lloyd, whose death had precipitated the by-election. Turnout at 39.7% was much lower than the 60.1% for the 2019 general election. Labour had withdrawn support for its candidate when it became known he had suggested that Israel was complicit in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Following the by-election, it was announced that the Workers Party had 59 prospective parliamentary candidates for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

2024 local elections
In March 2024, the party gained its first councillor when the former mayor of Hounslow, Amritpal Mann, defected to the Workers Party.

At the 2024 United Kingdom local elections, the party stood 33 candidates for councillor positions. Four of them were elected, including two in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale (where they received 13% of the overall vote with Labour receiving 42% and the Conservatives 19%) and one in Calderdale. Shahbaz Sarwar, their candidate in Longsight Ward, Manchester, unseated deputy leader of City Council Luthfur Rahman, with 2,444 votes to Labour’s 2,259. The WPB endorsed independent candidate for the Mayor of the West Midlands, Akhmed Yakoob, came third with 69,621 votes (11.7%). Yakoob announced his intention to stand in the 2024 general election at Birmingham Ladywood. He is again endorsed by the WPB.

The party's mayoral candidate in Lewisham, John Hamilton, distributed a flyer saying "Starmer’s Labour Party is falling apart. Any criticism of Israel is labelled antisemitic. He is their puppet". He posed with a placard that depicted a swastika above a Jewish Star of David. He came fifth, with 5.7% of the vote.

On 2 July, independent (formerly labour) Burnley councillor Syeda Kazmi joined the party.

2024 general election
On 30 April 2024, Galloway announced that he had 500 candidates ready and that the party would stand in every seat at the next general election.

Among the candidates were announced were former cricketer Monty Panesar, along with defectors from UKIP and Labour. Describing the Labour Party as the "number one enemy", Galloway said the party was targeting Labour seats, and that it would support a small number of independent left candidates, including Claudia Webbe in Leicester East and Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North.

Within a week, Panesar stood down after a series of disastrous media interviews. Former Labour MP and WPB deputy leader Chris Williamson stood in Derby South. In April it was reported that the WPB candidate in Brentford and Isleworth, Nisar Malik, a former mayor of Hounslow, posted a video in which David Duke, a former "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan, expressed antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews controlling the media and the global financial system. The candidate in Putney, Hassan Chahine, was deselected in late May, due to exposure of his sharing antisemitic material (including a video that asserted that a "coven of Jews" had "seized" control of America and that Jews have been punished throughout history for "killing Jesus Christ") and praising Hezbollah.

The party launched its official campaign on 1 June, with Galloway declaring Labour leader Keir Starmer was "indistinguishable" from Rishi Sunak and had "blood on his hands" over his position on Gaza. Its 34 page manifesto, which was published in June, included policies to increase the personal tax allowance, consider nationalising some public services including rail, water, electricity and the “military-industrial complex”, oppose ULEZ and "green hysteria", regulate "Big Food" and "Big Pharma", end “creeping buro-fascism” and "cultural engineering" and instead support free speech, recognise working class "anxiety" about mass immigration, end "imperialist wars", support Palestine, withdraw from NATO, consider dropping the retirement age to 60, introduce non-means tested free school lunches and remove the UK nuclear deterrent.

Retired rugby league footballer Keith Mason was the party's candidate for Wakefield. He was deselected by the party in June over "anti-Islamic" tweets. His name remained on the ballot because the deadline for candidates to be nominated had passed. Also in June, it was reported that Kamran Khan, the WPB candidate in Poplar and Limehouse, "shared social media posts that mocked Holocaust Remembrance Day, claimed America is controlled by a 'Jewish mafia' and implied that anyone who learnt about Jewish history would become a Nazi." At the same time, the candidate in Finchley and Golders Green, Mez Derak, shared an article that called the Jewish festival Passover "a sick and twisted holiday.” The WPB stood down its candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green to support Faiza Shaheen, a candidate deselected by Labour.

In the end, the WPB stood 152 candidates, with Galloway defending his Rochdale seat. The WPB won no seats but did garner 210,194 votes across the country. George Galloway came in second place to Labour Party candidate and journalist Paul Waugh in Rochdale. Waugh received 13,027 votes, equivalent to 32.8% of the vote, while Galloway received 11,587 votes, equivalent to 29.2% of the vote. Craig Murray, who stood in Blackburn for the party, finished in third place behind independent candidate Adnan Hussain and incumbent Labour MP Kate Hollern. The Workers Party came within a small number of votes of defeating some high profile Labour MPs with large swings. Jody Mcintyre came in second place in Birmingham Yardley and within 693 votes of defeating Labour candidate Jess Phillips. James Giles came within 1,566 votes of defeating Liam Byrne in Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North.

Ideology and platform
The party identifies as a socialist, working class party, which aims for "a redistribution of wealth and power in favour of working people". It describes itself as "economically radical" and "committed to class politics". It has expressed support for a planned economy. The party's platform is outlined in its 10-point plan, in which it advocates "rebuilding British industry", universal "decent housing", "free or cheap" public transportation and an end to NHS waiting lists. It advocates for referenda on net zero emissions policies and the future of the British monarchy. Its manifesto states: "The transition to a Green economy should be at a pace that matches the ability of our population to afford it. We will not be seduced by the more apocalyptic Green hysteria that floods our media but we will seek rational debate centred on democratically aligned outcomes beneficial to workers".

The party has been defined as socially conservative, for example rejecting gender self-identification, and party leader George Galloway describes himself as such. Galloway said the party was "the working-class patriotic alternative to fake woke anti-British 'Labour. In May 2024, Galloway told Novara Media that same-sex relationships are not "normal", while Bolton WPB candidate, Sajid Pathan, refused to comment on this question.

The party is opposed to NATO and European Union membership, with a policy of withdrawing Britain from NATO. In a statement it said it "is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian liberation struggle and opposition to Zionism as a violently racist ideology". Its website states that the party will "withdraw all military support from war zones and work for a negotiated and peaceful settlement whenever and wherever war breaks out". During the week of Galloway's by-election win, a Workers Party delegation was taking part in the World Festival of Youth in Russia.

During the 2024 general election, the party launched its first election manifesto, with promises to improve "poverty pay" and provide more social housing. It pledges the renationalisation of utility companies, free school meals for all children without means testing, free adult education, and to hold a referendum on the continued existence of the monarchy and proportional representation for elections. The overhaul arts funding was also noted, to make space for working-class communities. The party has been referred to as "climate sceptical" and as "strongly downplaying the human impact of two hundred years of industrialisation and greenhouse gas emissions" in terms of its stance regarding how to respond to climate change.

Notable members

 * Amjad Bashir, former Conservative Party and UKIP Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber (2014–19).
 * Peter Ford, former Ambassador to Bahrain (1999–2003) and Syria (2003–2006).
 * George Galloway, founder and leader of the WPB, formerly an MP 1987–2005 (for the Labour Party and as an independent politician), then 2005–2010 and 2012–2015 (both for the Respect Party), and for the WPB since the 2024 Rochdale by-election.
 * Keith Mason, former English rugby league player and actor. Initially selected to stand in the Wakefield and Rothwell constituency at the 2024 general election, but was deselected after accusations of Islamophobia.
 * Craig Murray, former Ambassador to Uzbekistan (2002–2004). Standing in the Blackburn constituency at the 2024 general election.
 * Monty Panesar, former England cricketer. Planned to contest the Ealing Southall constituency at the 2024 general election, but soon withdrew as a candidate.
 * Brian Travers, former band member of UB40. He died in August 2021.
 * Chris Williamson, former Labour MP for Derby North (2010–15 and 2017–19). Standing in the Derby South constituency at the 2024 general election.