Former England cricketer Monty Panesar will stand as a Parliamentary candidate for the left-wing Workers Party, George Galloway has revealed.
The Rochdale MP said Mr Panesar, 42, will be trying to unseat the Labour incumbent in Ealing Southall, West London, at the general election. The Luton-born left-handed bowler will contest the seat with Labour's Virendra Sharma, who has a majority of over 16,000.
Mr Galloway claimed to be talking to "three Labour MPs and one Labour lord” as he hinted at defections - saying he's expecting a "significant number" in the coming weeks. Addressing reporters outside Parliament he vowed to put forward a candidate in every constituency unless there was an "exceptional" figure such as Jeremy Corbyn.
It came as he unveiled some of his candidates in Westminster, having earlier told LBC: "I'll present 200 of them outside Parliament this afternoon, including - you'll like this - Monty Panesar, the ace Indian cricketer, former England international cricketer, who will be our candidate in Southall."
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He went on: “Monty, of course, was a great left arm spinner and so we could do with him”. Mr Panesar, full name Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, played for England between 2006 and 2013. He was a member of the side that won the 2009 Ashes series, taking 167 Test wickets during his career.
Since retiring from county cricket he has studied sports journalism and has been working as a freelance journalist and writer. He is expected to be among the speakers at an event hosted by campaign group Show Racism the Red Card in Parliament today.
Mr Galloway said his roster of candidates would also include a former Tory member of the European Parliament, who he did not name. He said some of those being put forward are "very interesting indeed".
Speaking outside Parliament he said: "Keir Starmer fears us like a turkey fears Christmas. We say Britain deserves better than the shameful uniparty state we have now."
He told LBC presenter Nick Ferrari: "The reality is that we are, if you like, Labour shorn of identity politics, infatuation with race and gender, wokery and greenery and quackery. We are the real deal.
"We do what we say on the tin, we stand up for the working people." Former Labour MP Mr Galloway has been back in Parliament since February's by-election in Rochdale. He set up the Workers Party of Britain in 2019.