The life and times of 'Gorgeous George'

They say politics is a dirty game and to survive and flourish you need to maximise and use every advantage offered. Some even argue that politicians change and adapt to whatever the electorate want to hear as further proof of their insincerity. All these elements one could say, apply in the case of the colourful and charismatic newly-appointed MP, George Galloway. Gorgeous George as he is mockingly known to the parts of the press who critique his every move, followed up on his stunning electoral victory in Bradford West by marrying for a fourth time, a women 30 years his junior. He wed Dutch-Indonesian anthropologist, Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, who at 27 is actually 2 years younger than his daughter, who has made Galloway a grandfather twice over. Some see this latest chapter in Galloway's life, as a political move to further endear himself to his constituents.  Bryony Gordon, writing in The Telegraph picks up on this argument: “It is believed his latest squeeze, who is an anthropologist of Indonesian extraction living in Amsterdam, met the MP through his Viva Palestina charity. Like his two last wives, she is a Muslim, and she has been seen by some particularly cynical curmudgeons, as a ploy to further win the hearts of the large Islamic population in his new constituency”.   However, as with most things in the personal and political life of Galloway, not everything is plain sailing. His third wife, Rima Husseini, accused the firebrand politican of using outdated Islamic laws to take his latest wife. Commenting  in the Sun newspaper today she said “There’s a misconception you can have up to four wives in Islam, but it’s not true. It may have been hundreds and hundreds of years ago, when men were going to war and being killed - but it doesn’t exist now. Under Islamic law we remain married. He hasn’t done anything illegal, but morally it’s a different story. I’m asking for a divorce, but he’s been refusing for months. To this day he refuses to grant me a divorce.” According to Padraic Flanagan writing in Wednesday’s Daily Express newspaper, Galloway's ex- Lebanese in-laws have also poured scorn on Galloway’s latest romantic journey, branding the MP a "womaniser" and warned his new bride to watch out.  Ms Husseini’s mother, Maha, said: “Next year he will have another wife. At least they know him. This is his fourth wife. Ask yourself if you would be angry."   Caroline Crampton writing in the Guardian asks “Does this fourth marriage, as one columnist has already suggested, make Galloway a "Common Cad"? Judging by the coverage it has attracted so far, it certainly seems to chime with views that people already hold of Galloway – that he's a maverick, unreliable, and stands against the usual conventions of British politics.This squeamishness about our politicians having multiple marriages appears to be fairly unique to us Brits. For instance, Carla Bruni is Nicolas Sarkozy's third wife. Callista Gingrich is Republican presidential hopeful Newt's third wife, and also the woman he spent six years having an affair with before they finally made it down the aisle. Former German chancellor Gerhardt Schröder has been married four times, and has also adopted his fourth wife's daughter from her previous marriage”. Crampton points out that this is fairly common abroad and queries why it is strange for the British electorate and population to accept our politicians having more than one wife. Galloway married his first wife, his teenage sweetheart Elaine Fyffe, in 1979 and has a daughter Lucy who is now 29. After divorcing Fyffe in 1999 he married a Palestinian scientist, Dr Ammineh Abu-Zayyad and took her as his second wife in a Muslim ceremony. Galloway did not divorce her until 2009, two years after his marriage to his now third ex-wife, Lebanese born Ms Husseini. Galloway was notably sacked by the Labour Party in 2003 after his controversial comments about the Iraq war. He then founded the Respect party in 2005, winning the London constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow but losing it in 2010. He invited ridicule in 2006 when he wore a catsuit on Celebrity Big Brother and pretended to lick cream from actress Rula Lenska’s hands.