George Galloway claims he's 'in talks' with Labour MPs to defect to his Workers Party

George Galloway has claimed he's in talks with Labour parliamentarians to join his Workers Party of Britain for the general election.

The Rochdale MP believes his party could put pressure on Labour from the left, in the same way Reform UK is targeting Tories on the right, to steal "hundreds" of red seats by capitalising on voters dissatisfied with Sir Keir Starmer's handling of the conflict in Gaza.

Cricket star Monty Panesar was among hundreds of general election candidates - including UKIP and Labour defectors - unveiled at a press conference in Parliament Square Garden on Tuesday.

Mr Galloway said his party had 500 candidates ready and hoped to stand in most English seats at the general election as well as targeting some in Scotland and Wales.

The MP, who recently made his comeback to Parliament, said his party would welcome former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Claudia Webbe if they decide to run again in the election as independents.

He claimed his party is in talks with several parliamentarians from Labour, including three MPs, a lord and local councillors, who he is trying to convince to defect to his Workers Party.

“Talks were going swimmingly, then not, then back on again," Mr Galloway said.

"These things take time. I’m hoping to land them, I’m an experienced fisherman. I’m hoping to land them on the riverbank in good time."

He told the press conference he believes his party will have "the same impact on Labour" that Reform UK is "likely to have on the Conservatives".

"The truth is there's a huge number of people in Britain who are fed up with the two cheeks of the same backside," he told the press briefing. "They don't find either cheek any more attractive than the other and they're not prepared to vote for the backsides that are presented to us as the best that we can have.

"We say Britain deserves better than the dwarfish political class that leads and leads the opposition."

Mr Galloway is hoping to keep up the momentum of his byelection victory in Rochdale last month when he won almost 40% of the vote after Labour dropped its candidate, Azhar Ali, at the eleventh hour over inflammatory comments he made about Israel.

The race was heavily dominated by the conflict in Gaza and the dividing political stances on the West's involvement in it.

“Sir Keir Starmer fears us like a turkey fears Christmas,” said Mr Galloway, in a statement released ahead of the press briefing.

“We are here – now a national force. For Britain, For Gaza. For the working class.”

During Mr Galloway's speech, which he delivered to the backdrop of Big Ben, he said he is aligned with Donald Trump's hopes of pulling the US out of Nato.

"Like Donald Trump, we see no use for Nato and I'm hoping that if he's elected in November he'll make good on his promise to leave Nato," he said.

"It would be the finest thing that a President Trump could do. We want to see the end of what is in effect the largest war machine in the world today."

At the press conference, Mr Galloway unveiled perhaps his most high-profile candidate, former England cricketer Panesar who said he was there to "represent the working class people of this country".

Panesar, who will be standing in the Labour-held Ealing Southall, said Mr Galloway’s party was “more aligned” to the working class than Sir Keir’s.

The left-arm spinner told the press conference: "When I played cricket for England I had so much support from the public and now it's my time to give back - give back to the working class, make sure that the gap between the rich and the poor gets closer - and that's why I'm joining this party."

The party also announced it has welcomed former 2019 Labour general election candidate Khalil Ahmed, who will stand against Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Steve Baker in Wycombe, as well as former UKIP MEP Amjad Bashir who will stand in Pudsey.

“And we have hundreds of other candidates, including former British Ambassadors Peter Ford and Craig Murray, and former Labour MP Chris Williamson, to name but a few," said the Workers Party in a statement.

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