In general, a loyalism the loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown.

In North America, the term 'Loyalist' characterizes American colonists who rejected the American Revolution. They included many Royal officials, Anglican clergymen, wealthy merchants with ties to London, de-mobilized Royal soldiers, or recent arrivals (especially from Scotland), together with many ordinary people. Colonists with Loyalist sympathies accounted for an estimated 20% to 30% of the white colonial population of the day, compared with about 40% who were 'Patriot'. This high level of political polarization causes some historians to argue that the American Revolution was as much a civil war, as a war of independence.

The British strategy to win the war relied on mobilizing Loyalist soldiers, and they formed over 100 militia regiments during the Revolution. In the South after 1779, especially in South Carolina, Loyalist militias tended to use the same guerrilla tactics as their Patriot counterparts. Battles between Loyalist and Patriot militias in the South were often brutal, and atrocities occurred, as in the experience of young Andrew Jackson.

George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, author, journalist, and broadcaster, and the Respect Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West. He was previously an MP for the Labour Party, for Glasgow Hillhead and then its successor constituency Glasgow Kelvin from 1987 until 2005. He was expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 because of his strident public opposition to the Iraq War. He subsequently became a founding member of the left-wing Respect Party, and was elected as the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005. In 2010, Galloway unsuccessfully contested the seat of Poplar and Limehouse, and in 2011 he unsuccessfully contested the Glasgow list for the Scottish Parliament, before being elected as an MP in the Bradford West by-election, 2012.

Galloway is well known for his campaigns in support of the Palestinians in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In the late-1980s Hansard records him delivering a ferocious assault on the Ba'ath regime, and Galloway opposed Saddam's regime until the United States-led Gulf War in 1991. Galloway is known for a visit to Iraq where he met Saddam Hussein, and delivered a speech, which ended in English with the statement "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability." He has always stated that he was addressing the Iraqi people in the speech. Galloway testified to the United States Senate in 2005 over alleged illicit payments from the United Nations' Oil for Food Programme.