George Galloway described as a maverick MP, expelled from the Labour Party by Tony Blair, the only Respect MP in Parliament confounded his many vociferous critics with a decisive victory in the Bradford West by-election in 2012. The scale of the victory where Galloway secured a 10,000 majority represented a massive kick in the teeth in the Labour Party’s backyard. The figures are startling: Mr Galloway won 18,341 votes to the 8,201 for the Labour candidate,  Imran Hussain, a local barrister of Kashmiri origins who is on first name terms with everyone in his community. What is remarkable about Galloway’s achievement is that not only did he manage to target working class Muslim areas of Bradford West; he also managed to engage the young white working class into voting.

Galloway’s victory was definitely a case of déjà vu. In the 2005 General Election Galloway dramatically wiped out the Labour stronghold in Bethnal Green and Bow to become the first Respect MP in 2005. In Bradford, Galloway targeted the largely Asian communities, Pakistani in Bradford and Bengali in Bethnal Green and Bow. Galloway was not exaggerating when he announced on Twitter: “By the Grace of God we have won the most sensational victory in British political history”.

The Labour Party was repeatedly accused of taking the largely Asian community for granted.  Ex Respect leader Salma Yaqoob, whose exit from the party is shrouded in mystery, said the result showed voters' dissatisfaction with the Government's austerity cuts. Baroness Warsi, the first Asian Conservative Cabinet Minister, who resigned over the UK’s position on the Gaza war also poured petrol on the flames adding to Labour’s discomfort. Baroness Warsi wrote:  "This is a Labour seat, has been for many, many decades and last night they lost it in spectacular fashion.”. However, even the normally dour Labour party heavy weight David Blunkett conceded this: There's a small Bradford factor but it doesn't describe the enormity that this remarkable maverick with a terrifically controversial history has managed to achieve."

Questions about Ed Miliband’s leadership surfaced again. The Labour fight back began. Two years on in the local elections of May 2014 Respect paradoxically lost seats in the local council elections. Questions have been raised again about the role of Pakistani biraderi bloc clan politics among the majority Asian communities and how this will affect the outcome of the May 2015 General Election.  However, two years on a chink in the armour has appeared as the Bradford Spring which Galloway proclaimed in 2012 could not be replicated with the Respect anti war party failing to secure any seats in the local elections of 2014. Along with Respect, the Tories are citing the spectre of  Pakistani ‘biradari clan politics’ for their poor results in the local elections where votes are cast along clan lines. Imran Hussein, who lost to Galloway in 2012 is vowing to regain the West Bradford seat for Labour in the May 2015 General Election.  Hussein blasted the Respect Party in stating: “The Respect party in Bradford West is finished. George Galloway came to town two years ago and made a load of false promises. He hasn't delivered and he's never here. People have realised they want local representation”.

Like the Tories, Galloway blamed the poor results on “biraderi” clan politics among the Pakistani community! Galloway claimed to have smashed the biraderi clan-based bloc voting in 2012 by largely securing the young Muslim vote that were mesmerised by Galloway’s anti war message. Now after losing badly in the local elections, Galloway is conceding that the influence of biraderi still reigns supreme. Galloway announced on Twitter: “It's with regret I inform you that feudal reactionary 'biraderi' Labour politics is back in power in Bradford City Council. God help us. Thanks to the thousands who voted Respect yesterday and the candidates who braved foul weather and worse. We lost but we'll be back.”

Parveen Akhtar,  a leading authority on the role of biraderi in Bradford politics has conducted research into how Galloway managed to secure victory in Bradford.  Akhtar’s findings prove that biraderi still shapes voting intentions among Bradford’s Pakistani Muslim community. A central theme in Respect’s campaign was to break the relationship between biraderi elders and the local Labour Party. It is interesting to note as Akhtar pointed out that Galloway was happy to receive block votes from the young by skilfully circumventing the traditional South Asian community structures. Clearly the Respect Party has underestimated the influence of biraderi networks based on centuries of shared culture which have bonded Pakistani community groups together.

The truth is that neither Respect nor the Labour party have any chance to undermine biraderi clan politics. There is no doubt that Labour has benefitted from the biraderi system in the delivery of block votes. The most that both parties could hope for is to work with the biraderi system, not against it. The Labour Party has shown itself to be ahead of the game by point scoring in round one of Labour versus Respect by securing overall victory in the May 2014 local elections. Imran Hussein who represents the face of biraderi politics is going nowhere. The biraderi clans will get their man, albeit in Bradford East. It is unclear how Labour’s all women lists for the Bradford West seat which Galloway holds will produce another upset. Those very same women it should be added are also falling back on the deeply embedded biraderi networks. One thing is certain, neither Galloway nor Labour can circumvent the biraderi system nor take for granted the South Asian Muslim voters. Business as usual will probably be the order of the day. Biraderi politics reigns supreme

Tamara Taylor, Senior Correspondent, Medhaj News; based, currently, in London...