'Maverick' Labour MP is no stranger to controversy
Starting as general labourer in the parks of Dundee, he went on to become a production worker for Michelin Tyres, becoming an active trade unionist and rising to be a labour organiser in the late 1970s.
By 1983 he had secured the position of general secretary of War on Want a third world charity and four years later he defeated the then SDP member for Glasgow Hillhead, Roy Jenkins, to become a Labour MP.
The 48-year-old, whose second wife is a Palestinian scientist who works at Glasgow University, has remained a Labour MP in Glasgow ever since. In Parliament his opposition to the first Gulf War, his support for Palestinian causes and his opposition to Iraq sanctions raised his profile. However, it was his decision to visit Iraq on several occasions and hold talks with key figures in Saddam Hussein's regime, including the dictator himself, that proved most contentious. In 1994, he was shown on TV telling Saddam: "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability."
His campaign to raise money for a young Iraqi girl, Mariam Hamza, to fly her to the UK for treatment for leukaemia won him a rather better press than some of his other activities.
Throughout his campaigns he has stressed that his concern is for the welfare of the Iraqi people.
He has continued to hit the headlines on a regular basis in recent months, having a very public spat with the then Foreign Office minister Ben Bradshaw who accused Mr Galloway of being "not just an apologist but a mouthpiece for the Iraq regime over many years".
During the war, in an interview with Abu Dhabi television, Mr Galloway said Tony Blair and George Bush were "wolves" for the "crime" of military action against Iraq. He also questioned why Arab countries persisted in selling oil to coalition countries when Iraq was being attacked.
Although his anti-war views were in line with many in the Labour Party, his long-standing closeness to the Iraq regime meant he has been widely seen as a maverick rather than as a spokesman for the peace movement. His comments over Blair's role in the war are being "looked at" by Labour's general secretary, a process which could lead to moves to expel him from the party.
One thing is for certain, as shown by his reaction to the Daily Telegraph's claims he received money from Saddam Hussein's regime, if they decide to kick him out of the party, George Galloway is unlikely to go quietly.
