De-Mystifying biraderi in Bradford

When George Galloway won the Bradford West by-election in March 2012 he called it ‘the most sensational result in British by-election history bar none’. While this might be a slight exaggeration, it was certainly an unforeseen result that took most onlookers by surprise. We include ourselves in this category. Indeed, one of us had even written an article on the Respect party in 2011 suggesting that it might not survive much longer! Galloway did not simply edge out his Labour rival Imran Hussain, he trounced him with more than 55% of the vote. Clearly something very interesting had taken place in Bradford West. Subsequent media reports described the result as a revolt amongst younger Bradfordians and the biraderi system. Kinship-based bloc voting, a prominent feature of British Pakistani political engagement in UK politics, was being challenged. Given our previous research on British Muslim Politics, it made sense to work together on an article that would investigate how the Respect Party had managed to pull off such a stunning victory. Thanks to the generosity of the Moray Endowment Fund, it was possible to conduct some research in Bradford in 2013 and speak with some of the key players involved in the campaign as well both Labour and Respect local councillors.