George Galloway is to contest the upcoming Batley and Spen byelection in a move that could make it harder for Labour to hold the seat. After the party’s defeat to the Tories in the recent Hartlepool byelection, Labour had been regarded as facing a tough battle to hold Batley and Spen when voters go to the polls on 1 July. But the entry of Galloway, a former Labour MP who has edged the party out in previous battles for seats in Bradford West and Bethnal Green, presents a new challenge and potentially increases the chances of a Conservative win. In announcing on Thursday that he would stand, Galloway made it clear that his focus was on placing Labour’s leader under pressure. “I’m standing against Keir Starmer. If Keir Starmer loses this byelection it’s curtains for Keir Starmer,” he said in a video posted online. “So if, for whatever reason, you think that the current leader of the Labour party needs to be replaced, I’m your man,” added Galloway, who had been a vocal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership from outside the party. Kim Leadbeater, who was selected as the Labour candidate for the seat on Sunday, said the party needed more “real people” in parliament to reconnect to its former voters and has vowed to “burst the Westminster bubble” if she wins. She is the sister of Jo Cox, the seat’s former MP who was murdered by a rightwing terrorist in 2016. Voters in West Yorkshire constituency will be going to the polls following the resignation of Tracy Brabin, who was elected the first mayor of West Yorkshire. Labour holds Batley and Spen with a narrow majority of 3,525 and a defeat would deal a further blow to Starmer’s leadership after the Hartlepool byelection and local election losses this month. Galloway was expelled from the Labour party in 2003 after being found guilty of four of five charges of bringing the party into disrepute. A vocal supporter of Brexit, Galloway is likely to attract some voters who would have been expected to vote for the Conservatives.