Arshad Ali is a British psychologist, political activist and politician who was leader of the

Respect Party The Respect Party was a left-wing to far-left, socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and nineteen ...

from November 2012 until December 2012, when he was forced to resign after evidence of a prior conviction for election fraud came to light. Ali was a longstanding Respect campaigner, having contested council elections in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

's Manningham ward in 2007 and in the general election in 2010. He tried and failed to win

Bradford West Bradford West is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom gene ...

, the constituency taken by

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...

in 2012 in a landslide victory.

Biography

Ali's election as Chair-elect of the Respect Party was announced by Respect Party national secretary

Chris Chilvers Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

on 5 November 2012. Ali stood down as national chair in December 2012 after it emerged he had a spent conviction for electoral fraud. In 1997, Ali was in jail for six weeks following his conviction for electoral fraud. Later, he stood for election to a City Council seat as a Respect Party candidate in Bradford in 2014, but failed.

References

Living people Leaders of the Respect Party 21st-century British politicians British politicians of Pakistani descent Year of birth missing (living people) British Muslims British prisoners and detainees Electoral fraud in the United Kingdom {{UK-politician-stub