Labour leader Ed Miliband came face to face with disenchanted voters in Bradford West tonight promising to learn from mistakes that lost them the recent by-election.

He arrived at the question-and-answer session that had been kept a close secret, but when he emerged two hours later – an hour longer than expected – from Grange Interlink Community Centre in Shearbridge, the outlook was a little brighter leaving the centre to a round of applause.

Mr Miliband told the invited audience of 80 Bradford West residents, students, business people and community leaders that he would “personally guarantee” that Labour would take their concerns seriously.

He also said at the listening exercise he could not promise “quick fixes overnight” but he pledged: “We are going to learn lessons as swiftly as we can in a way that we can deliver on them.”

He said he had wanted to be at the first of a number of meetings that will now be held by the Party in Bradford to re-engage with the community after George Galloway and his Respect party overturned a Labour majority of 6,000 to win the by-election called due to retiring MP Marsha Singh’s ill health.

Bradford stumbling over its regeneration, Westfield’s ten-year hole in the ground, empty shops, decaying Odeon and frustration over unemployment, crime and the NHS as well as Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan were some of the concerns raised.

Labour’s councillors in the city also came under fire with accusations that some of them were not articulate enough to be able to represent their community and questions were raised about how the party selected Imran Hussain to be its prospective MP for Bradford West. And there was criticism of Labour’s failed bid to keep the seat it had held for 30 years, saying it lacked “excitement” and failed to engage with the community as a whole.

Mr Miliband insisted Mr Galloway did not offer “a real message of hope” and urged people to take a reality check. he said: “He has absolutely no way of keeping his promises.”

He was thrown the gauntlet of taking to the stage in Bradford with Mr Galloway but rejected it saying: “I won’t debate with him because he turns everything into a circus.”

However, he did accept an invitation by Bradford Muslim Women’s Council to be at the inaugural public meeting of one of its new groups being set up to encourage the discussion of city issues.