DEFEATED George Galloway lost his seat by an even bigger majority than he swept into Bradford with in the 2012 by-election.

Labour's Naz Shah beat the Respect leader by 11,420 votes, with Mr Galloway congratulating her on what he said was a "remarkable victory".

He said: "I congratulate the new Member of Parliament, Naz Shah, on her remarkable victory and it is obvious that the Labour Party will be celebrating here in Bradford."

In a fiery victory speech, Ms Shah accused Mr Galloway of making "personal attacks" on her during his campaign.

She thanked her rival candidates, "with the exception of one", for fighting her on the issues.

She said: "To Mr Galloway, I say that your campaign demeaned our democracy, but personal attacks on me have not worked.

"The people of Bradford West have seen through this and you have been sent on your way."

Ms Shah thanked Tory peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi for her support during the campaign, "who has spoken out as a Muslim woman who's also in politics".

She added: "That's meant a great deal to me on a personal level."

She also thanked Ed Miliband and wife Justine, who she said had visited her twice.

Conceding defeat, Mr Galloway also congratulated Labour's Imran Hussain for winning in Bradford East.

But he went on to say Labour had not had such a good night across the country.

He said: "The people of Bradford will wake up tomorrow – now, really – to discover that the Conservative Government are back, that the Labour leader will probably resign by lunchtime, that the shadow foreign secretary has lost his seat and when I last heard, shadow chancellor Ed Balls may well have lost his seat.

"That's very bad news for Bradford."

Mr Galloway said Bradford would always have a "central place" in his heart.

He said: "It has been a privilege to spend the three years I did as MP for Bradford West. It is truly a special place full of special people and I will miss them. Bradford will always have a central place in my heart."

He left the podium after saying he was "going off now to plan my next campaign", but as the media scrum surrounded him, he refused to say whether this would be to run for the Mayor of London.

Conservative candidate George Grant came third, receiving more than 6,000 votes, ahead of Ukip's Harry Boota who took more than 3,000 votes.

Liberal Democrat candidate Alun Griffiths and the Green Party's Celia Hickson both took more than 1,000 votes, while Independent James Kirkcaldy and the English Democrats' Therese Hirst polled 100 and 98 votes respectively.