George Galloway: I Like Elections But Being An MP Is Tedious

George Galloway: I Like Elections But Being An MP Is Tedious

George Galloway has admitted that while he likes running for election he isn't actually that keen on doing his job as an MP.

The Respect MP, who hailed a "Bradford Spring" when he unexpectedly won the Bradford West by-election last year, said he found parliament "2% terrifying, and 98% tedium".

In an interview with Total Politics magazine published on Tuesday, the firebrand politician repeated the suggestion that he might run for mayor of London - having become bored with Westminster.

“I’m interested in running for the mayor of London in 2016 but I haven’t decided," he said. I like elections more than I like serving. I relish them in the way most politicians don’t, and this is the only mass popular election that there is here."

"Seven million people have the right to vote in it; it’s the next best thing to a presidential election that you’re ever going to get in Britain. So, I relish running for the office, and the opportunity finally to be in power over substantial sets of important tasks in a city as great as London is obviously attractive."

The field for the 2016 mayoral race is wide open, with a number of senior Labour MPs including Tessa Jowell and Sadiq Khan believed to be mulling a bid. Who the Conservative candidate to replace Boris Johnson will be is less clear.

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