Former England cricketer Monty Panesar will represent the fringe Workers Party of Britain in the upcoming UK general election, the party’s leader George Galloway announced on Tuesday.
In response to the Israel-Hamas conflict, Galloway, a left-wing firebrand who was re-elected to parliament in March, stated that Panesar was one of 200 candidates the party is fielding for election.
Between 2006 and 2013, Panesar, a 42-year-old left-arm spinner, claimed 167 wickets in 50 Test matches for England.
Born Mudhsuden Singh Panesar in Luton, north of London, to Sikh parents who left the Indian Punjab, he rose to prominence in the industry thanks to his black patka and became a devoted fan favorite.
He is set to run in the ballot later this year in the west London constituency of Ealing Southall.
He will need to defeat Virendra Sharma, the leader of the main opposition Labour party, who set a 16,084 majority in the most recent national election in 2019 in order to win.
Panesar “will be our candidate in Southall,” an area with a Sikh predominance, according to Galloway on LBC radio.
“Monty, of course, was a great left-arm spinner so we could do with him,” he added.
Former Labour legislator Galloway wants to capitalise on his perception of discontent with both the Conservative administration and the Labour opposition led by Keir Starmer.
Although Starmer is favored to win, Galloway has denounced him for his views on Israel’s military action against Hamas in Gaza and is looking to take advantage of Labour’s disagreements on the matter.
The Labour candidate for Galloway’s own election pulled out after promoting a conspiracy theory claiming that Israel had given the go-ahead for Hamas to carry out its murderous attack on October 7 of last year.
Galloway said voters were rejecting the “Tweedledee, Tweedledum politics” of the Tories and Labour, as well as “culture war” issues over “race and gender, wokery and greenery and quackery”.
“We stand up for the working people. Our country is falling apart at the seams…. Not since 1941 have we been in such trouble,” he added.
“And there’s no Mr Churchill to step into the breach.”
