George Galloway standing in Manchester Gorton by-election

George Galloway has announced he plans to stand in the Manchester Gorton by-election as an independent candidate.

Mr Galloway, former Respect and Labour MP, said he felt he was “best person” to try fill the shoes of Labour’s Sir Gerald Kaufman, whose death last month, after representing the seat for 30 years, triggered the by-election.

In a statement released on the website Westmonster, Galloway called the “All-Asian short-list” from Labour “not good enough for the people of Gorton one of the most deprived constituencies in Britain”, describing it as the “latest in a long line of insults delivered by mainstream parties to local communities”.

Galloway also spoke to students in his statement claiming that “the struggle for students has always been a parliamentary preoccupation of mine” and speaking of being “a Labour MP when Tony Blair introduced tuition fees” and breaking “a 3 line whip to vote against them.”

Labour have called Galloway’s decision to run  “entirely self-serving” and said it “offers nothing to the local community”.

Labour announced on Monday night their shortlist of five potential candidates and the meeting to select the candidate will be held on Wednesday night.

Labour have held the seat since 1935 and won the seat in 2015 with 67 per cent of the vote.

The Labour shortlist includes Afzal Khan, Labour MEP for the North West, with the rest being local councillors Luthfur Rahman, Yasmine Dar, Nasrin Ali and Amina Lone. Sam Wheeler, reportedly had the backing of the party leadership, but did not make the shortlist, leading complaints from the left of the party.

Gorton’s constituency Labour party was suspended last year for three months, while they were investigated over claims of vote rigging, bullying and intimidation. Infighting within the CLP escalated as Kaufman’s health deteriorated, with members positioning themselves to take over.

Galloway alluded to such infighting stating that “we know that Labour is divided, an ineffective opposition still busy fighting each other, there is a danger that the people of Gorton will never be heard from at Westminster again”.

Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan, and coordinating Labour’s campaign, said Gorton constituents, “deserve better than a man who has described the sexual assault of women as ‘bad sexual etiquette'”.

She added that she was “confident that residents in Manchester will send a clear message that Galloway’s divisive, destructive politics isn’t welcome here”.

Galloway acknowledged in his statement that he was not a Mancunian but argued that “neither was Sir Matt Busby. Neither was Sir Alex Ferguson nor Pep Guardiola nor José Mourinho. Like them I want to work for you, for Gorton, for Manchester”.

He added that “if I were to win here it would be the mother of all by-election victories for the hardworking people of Gorton, who would never be forgotten again.

“If I don’t, then the alternative will be a career politician, with NO change and no Development for Gorton. It will remain the same most deprived 10% of constituencies in our country.”

The by-election is expected to run on the 4th of May, the same day as Manchester’s first mayoral elections.

The Lib Dems have selected Jackie Pearcy as their candidate, with the Green Party who came second in 2015 chosing Jess Mayo. The Conservatives and UKIP are yet to announce their candidates.