Can Monty Panesar spin his way into the House of Commons?

England’s former left-arm bowler wants to become a left-wing MP but, as Sean O’Grady explains, a Labour majority could leave him stumped

Monty Panesar will represent George Galloway’s Workers of Britain party in Ealing Southall (PA)

Cricket legend Mudhsuden Singh “Monty” Panesar has been adopted as parliamentary candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain in the Ealing Southall constituency in west London. As with his sporting career, England’s former left-arm spin bowler is aiming high: still only a little over 40 years of age, he wants to be prime minister. Britain has never had a leader from the world of sport (or any other type of celebrity) but other nations have, and many former sportsmen and sportswomen have entered British politics with varying degrees of success…

Can Monty Panesar make it to parliament?

There’s no reason why not, except that the odds are against him becoming the next MP for Ealing Southall. On the plus side is Panesar’s name recognition, engaging personality and his Sikh background, which would do him no harm in a constituency with the largest Sikh population of any in the UK. On the negative side is the sheer size of the Labour majority won by Virendra Sharma in 2019: 16,084, or 38.1 per cent. The hard-left Workers Party of Britain hasn’t contested the seat before, and Panesar and Galloway will need to build a local organisation and win support for their controversial policies, which include taking Britain out of Nato.