- Friday, May 17, 2024
The 42-year-old is slated to contest for the Workers Party of Great Britain against the Labour incumbent in Ealing Southall, Virendra Sharma.
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER England cricketer Monty Panesar has announced his candidature for George Galloway’s party at Britain’s next general election likely to be held later this year.
The 42-year-old is slated to contest for the Workers Party of Britain against the Labour incumbent in Ealing Southall, London. The move is part of the party’s strategy to jeopardize the Labour’s chances in several seats over its stance on the Middle East.
Galloway recently made a surprising comeback to the House of Commons by winning the Rochdale by-election last month.
He secured a significant majority of more than 5,500 votes by running his campaign focused on the conflict in Gaza and actively sought support from the sizable Muslim electorate in the Lancashire constituency.
The news of Panesar’s candidature was officially announced on Tuesday morning by Galloway himself, who mentioned on LBC, “Monty, of course, was a great left-arm spinner and so we could do with him.” He also said that Panesar was one of 200 candidates the party is putting up for the election, AFP reported.
The former spinner, born to Sikh parents from India’s Punjab who had migrated to the UK in the late 1970s, told The Telegraph that he will be on the ballot for the Workers Party in Ealing Southall, which is being held by Labour’s Virendra Sharma, a British-Indian, since 2007.
Panesar, originally named Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, played for England between 2006 and 2013 and appeared in 50 Tests, 26 one-day internationals and one T20 match. He was more prominent in the long format in which he captured 167 wickets at an economy rate of less than three. Panesar, whose black patka had made a distinctive figure on the ground, had played a key role in England’s successful Ashes campaign in 2009.
After retiring from the game, Panesar became a freelance journalist, writer and broadcaster, having studied sports journalism at St. Mary’s University, London. He also made a deal with Great Witchingham, a village club in Norfolk, to compete in their campaign this year.
To get elected, the former cricketer will have to overturn a 16,084 majority set by Sharma at the last national poll in 2019, AFP reported. Given that Southall is a Sikh-majority area, the possibility can’t be ruled out.
Earlier in April, Panesar filmed a video to support Show Racism the Red Card campaign in which he spoke on the benefits of immigration.
“I think with migration, Britain is a stronger country, especially with some of the jobs that maybe the people who’ve been living in this country for generations, it’s difficult for them to do,” he said, according to The Telegraph.
“But we have people coming from other parts of the world who are willing to work hard, willing to make a success [of] their lives. They see Great Britain as a place of opportunity. So I think the more we promote migration, the better our country will be.”
Three years ago, Panesar stood by his former teammate Michael Vaughan, also a former England captain, during a controversy that ultimately resulted in the latter getting cleared of allegations of using racist language towards fellow cricketer Azeem Rafiq during a Yorkshire game in 2009.
Panesar called Vaughan a “brilliant captain” while speaking to GB News and added, “All he wanted to do was get the best 11 out on the pitch and it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
