THE scale of Naz Shah's victory over George Galloway in Bradford West - beating him by more than 11,000 votes - should not mislead people into thinking the next five years will be easy.

Both she and Imran Hussain, the new Labour MP for Bradford East, have to live up to the expectations of the people who voted for them. The pressure on them to be delegates of particular ethnic minority groups rather than representatives of all constituents, which is what democracy is supposed to be about, may be inferred from the following observations by Bradford Labour Party stalwart and former Lord Mayor Mohammed Ajeeb.

He wrote: "After many years of wait Bradford has elected two Kashmiri/Pakistani members of Parliament who should be more familiar and concerned with problems and issues faced by British Pakistanis," he wrote in a recent article.

"This particular community has been neglected by all political parties who have been only interested in their votes. Sadly the plight of this toiling, struggling and beleaguered community has continued to increase. Now the voters are pinning great hopes with their representatives to speak loudly for them at every level."

But according to former Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe her victory over the man in the hat, George Galloway, was due to wide-spread support from across the constituency, not just the enclaves of Kashmiri/Pakistanis.

The day after the election he told the T&A: "I think Naz Shah's victory represents the end of sectarian politics in the constituency. All sections of the community voted for her, not just Asians, in Clayton and Thornton and Heaton."

He was still of that opinion late last week. "A lot more women were around than before. Pro-Imran Hussain people went into Bradford East to work for him. The party brought in Roy Kennedy and Baroness Thornton to help Naz Shah."

In her election night victory speech, as reported in the T&A, Naz made a point of acknowledging the support of Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, "who has spoken out as a Muslim woman who's also in politics."

Unseating a sitting MP in a constituency of conflicting interest groups, which is what Bradford West has been ever since Labour left-wingers engineered the de-selection of Edward Lyons in 1979/80, takes some doing.

And Naz Shah, who had formerly flirted with the Respect Party, was only a second-choice candidate. Bradford West Constituency Labour Party actually selected London-based Amina Ali. Within three days she resigned giving as her explanation disruption to her family life, especially the education of her children.

This makes the scope of Naz Shah's victory all the more remarkable. She offered herself as a change candidate and defeated a man who had successfully challenged and out-faced the US Congress over the Iraq war.

Gerry Sutcliffe, who knows his way round the Palace of Westminster, said she had a very high profile in London, but that wouldn't be enough in the long run.

"She's got to be a good constituency MP otherwise she'll be accused of being like Galloway," Gerry Sutcliffe added.

Bradford writer Michael Stewart, who lives in Bradford West with his family, welcomed Naz Shah's victory. He said: "I’m very glad to see the back of Galloway. I really hope that Naz Shah will restore our faith in politicians. She’s a Bradford lass with a desire to work for Bradford. Unlike Galloway, who thought he’d won the Blackburn seat."

The MP said she intended to be a constituency representative. For her what might appear to some people to be conflicting expectations were simply challenges.

She said: "I have extra challenges so I have extra work to do. The challenge is to share the understanding of these challenges among policy makers.

"In Opposition you do that by lobbying, you find friends regardless of which party they represent. There are people who have shared interests in Parliament - mental health issues for example. Being an MP is not always about party politics.

"So for me it's about finding those friends and that can be cross-party or lobby groups. That's what I'll be doing. I have already started having conversations on issues. I have hit the ground running."

She was speaking on her way back from London back to Bradford West.

Mohammed Ajeeb, who was a ward councillor in the constituency for many years, said: "It's not an easy constituency to represent. No-one has done anything in practical terms for Bradford West. It's going to be difficult to please so many different interests."

Naz Shah doesn't see it like that. The various interests that exist are, to her, layers. Dog-fouling may be of concern to a particular interest group in one part of Bradford West whereas discrimination might be another issue elsewhere.

"For me that isn't a problem. I am used to that from growing up in Thornton," she added.

In the last of a three-part series, Jim Greenhalf looks at the new MPs in Bradford seats