George Galloway wins Rochdale by-election

The Workers Party of Britain leader received over 12,000 votes

Author: Christopher McKeon and Pat Hurst, PA / Sophie MerrickPublished 1st Mar 2024
Last updated 1st Mar 2024

The Workers Party of Britain candidate George Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election

The former Labour MP, overturned the Labour majority with 12,335 votes.

Mr Galloway's campaign team claimed early on in the night that the former Labour and Respect MP would win "comfortably", and so it proved. He received just under 40% of the vote.

In his victory speech, Mr Galloway began by focusing on Palestine, saying: "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You have paid, and you will pay, a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip."

He said he would put Rochdale councillors "on notice" that he intended to form a "grand alliance" to "clean the town hall up" at the local elections in May.

After he was interrupted by a heckler accusing him of being a "climate change denier", and confetti was thrown at him, he went on to pledge to campaign for the return of a maternity ward to Rochdale and to help save the town's troubled football club.

His majority of 5,697 votes amounted to 18.3% of the total, on a turnout of 39.7%, a little higher than the two recent by-elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood.

The runner-up was David Tully, a local businessman and independent candidate, who secured more than 6,600 votes.

The Rochdale campaign has been mired in controversy and claims of intimidation and divisive tactics.

Labour withdrew support for its candidate, Azhar Ali, following criticism of remarks he made about Israel, but Mr Ali remained listed as the Labour candidate as the party's decision came too late for ballot papers to be changed.

A Labour spokesperson said: "We deeply regret that the Labour party was unable to field a candidate in this by-election and apologise to the people of Rochdale. George Galloway only won because Labour did not stand.

"Rochdale deserved the chance to vote for an MP that would bring communities together and deliver for working people. George Galloway is only interested in stoking fear and division. As an MP he will be a damaging force in our communities and public life.

"The Labour party will quickly begin the process to select a new Labour candidate for the general election, and will be campaigning hard to deliver the representation and fresh start that Rochdale deserves."

A spokesperson for the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism said: "George Galloway has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community."

They added: "Given his historic inflammatory rhetoric and the current situation faced by the Jewish community in this country, we are extremely concerned by how he may use the platform of the House of Commons in the remaining months of this Parliament."

Who were the candidates in the running to be Rochdale's MP?

Azhar Ali - Labour

Mark Coleman - Independent

Simon Danczuk - Reform UK

Iain Donaldson - LIberal Democrats

Paul Ellison - Conservative

George Galloway - Workers Party of Britain

Michael Howarth - Independent

William Howarth - Independent

Guy Otten - Green Party

Ravin Rodent Subortna - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Anthony Tully - Independent

Labour after withdrew support for Azhar Ali, but he remained a candidate as it was too late to withdraw his name from the ballot papers.

Guy Otten, the Green Party candidate, also had party support withdrawn over comments made on Twitter though, like Mr Ali, his name still appeared on the ballot paper.

This parliamentary seat has previously been held by:

LLOYD, Tony Labour Party May 2017 – January 2024

DANCZUK, Simon Labour Party May 2010 – May 2017

ROWEN, Paul Liberal Democrats May 2005 – May 2010

FITZSIMONS, Lorna Labour Party May 1997 – May 2005

LYNNE, Liz Liberal Democrat April 1992 – May 1997

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.