The previous day Shah had addressed the Muslim Leadership conference in Bradford, and was not surprised to find that every question directed to the panel from the audience was about women. “Lots of Muslim women are telling me they support me, and that they are sick of Galloway saying he speaks for them,” says Shah.

She has been invited to a local women’s centre to address a group of Muslim women who meet there on a regular basis. Fifteen women of all ages turn up. Some say, in response to questions from Shah, that Galloway is a good voice for Muslims, but others are not so sure, with one younger woman saying she has “felt used” by him. “Galloway refuses to engage with people that do not wholeheartedly agree with him, or vice versa,” says Shah, “so nothing ever gets sorted out when there is a problem.”

Shah speaks for half an hour, without notes and with warmth and passion. Many of the women say that Galloway has the best interests of the Muslim community at heart, but Shah gently challenges them, asking what he has actually done for Bradford West. The women fall silent, struggling to come up with a response.

Leaving Shah to make a speech at a mental health charity that she chairs, I go for lunch to My Lahore, a modern curry house in the centre of Bradford. I had heard that Galloway is a regular there, and the manager confirms this. After I speak to several customers, it becomes clear that few know anything about Galloway or the Respect party’s politics, although one elderly white couple remember him dressed as a cat, resplendent in a red Lycra body suit, on the reality TV programme Big Brother in 2006.

The battle for Bradford West rages on, often in the unlikeliest of places. In the first week of the campaign, Galloway got into a spat with a small local brewery. Matthew Halliday, owner of the Bradford Brewery, sent Galloway what he described as a “cheeky” tweet asking if he was “still a thing”. Halliday says he had noticed that Galloway, who does not drink alcohol, was the only parliamentary candidate who had not visited the new business to wish it well. Galloway threatened to “return to the matter” after the general election, and blocked the brewery and anyone associated with it from accessing his tweets. The brewery is now planning on bringing out a special beer named “Galloway” which will be “weak and bitter with a frothy head”.

Whilst Galloway argues on Twitter, Shah is spending her time knocking on doors and listening to constituents. “We’ve been getting a fantastic reception on the doorsteps,” says one member of the her campaign team. “People here feel deeply let down by George Galloway and his broken promises. They’ve told us that Shah and her team being on their doorsteps listening to them is a huge contrast with the absenteeism of Galloway. Many people who voted for Respect in 2012 are telling us they are backing Shah this time.”

As we get closer to the election, Galloway’s tweets become more combative. One, with a photograph of triumphant Israelis waving the Israeli flag as a backdrop, reads, “I think Netanyahu and the entire Zionist movement wants me to lose; don’t you? Thank you for electing Naz Shah.” Directly below is another photograph, depicting a crowd of Palestinians waving their flag, and the words “Thank you for electing George Galloway.”

I ask Shah if she believes she can overturn Galloway’s five-figure majority. She says, confidently and firmly, “Yes. I am the biggest threat to Bradford patriarchal politics ever, and this whole male protection racket needs exposing.”