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Lord Mandelson erupted at George Galloway as he accused his campaign of fomenting division in the Labour stronghold of Batley and Spen ahead of the by-election held on Thursday. The seat was forecast to fall under Conservative control after over 20 years under Labour but candidate Kim Leadbeater secured a marginal victory over her opponents. Speaking to Sky News, Lord Mandelson hit out at Mr Galloway for his conduct ahead of the vote but was challenged by Sky News host Kay Burley on why many people still backed the outspoken Workers Party of Britain candidate.
Ms Burley said: “The flip-side of that vote is that he was given a voice to a section of the community that didn’t feel like they were being listened to by Labour.
“And certainly, they voted in a significant number for him.”
Lord Mandelson replied: “Kay, those are not their views. Those are not their views. Please, don’t portray Muslim people in that way.
“That’s not what Islam stands for. He represented an ugly and grotesque distortion of what that religion and its values mean to people.
JUST IN: Batley and Spen by-election result LIVE: Galloway demands recount and threatens court
George Galloway, who came third in the contest, said he would apply to have the result set aside by the courts.
Speaking outside the count, he said his election effort had been damaged by a “false statement” that he had laughed while Labour’s Kim Leadbeater was abused on the campaign trail.
“The whole election campaign was dominated by lazy and false tropes about our campaign, about the thousands of people that voted for us, about their motives for doing so, in a way which defamed them as much as it defamed me,” he said.
“So on multiple grounds we will apply to the courts for this election result to be set aside.”
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