George Galloway wins Rochdale byelection after calling for Gaza protest vote

The veteran political agitator George Galloway has won the Rochdale byelection after urging voters to lodge “the ultimate protest” over the conflict in Gaza.

Galloway, one of the most divisive politicians in Britain, was the frontrunner to win the Greater Manchester seat after Labour abandoned its candidate over inflammatory comments he made about Israel.

The ex-Labour MP has now unseated his former party in three elections and will return to parliament representing a fourth constituency in 37 years.

Speaking before the result, announced at the Rochdale leisure centre in the early hours of Friday, Galloway said a vote for him would “shake the walls of Westminster” after a campaign largely focused on events 2,600 miles away.

His victory comes after one of the most controversial and chaotic byelections in recent memory.

So confident was Galloway’s team that they briefed reporters within an hour of the polls closing that he had won “comfortably”.

“He’s won by a country mile,” said one aide, announcing plans for a “mass rally” immediately after the declaration at his election headquarters, a former Suzuki showroom.

Labour, defending a near-10,000-vote majority and riding high in the polls, had expected a straightforward contest to replace the sitting MP, Tony Lloyd, who died on 17 January from leukaemia. But its campaign was thrown into disarray when it emerged its candidate, Azhar Ali, had repeated anti-Israel conspiracy theories about the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Labour was eventually forced to disown Ali and abandoned its campaign barely a week into the contest. Although Ali’s name was on the ballot paper – it was too late to select another candidate – Labour stopped all electioneering in the town nearly three weeks ago.

Galloway, on the other hand, was galvanised. The fedora-sporting politician toured Rochdale with a megaphone, calling the byelection “a referendum on Gaza” and a chance to stage a protest against Labour.

His team, backed by an army of volunteers from across the country, managed to capture the vote of a significant number of Muslim people, who make up about 30% of the town’s population, with many angry about Labour’s position on Gaza.

Keir Starmer’s party also faced a challenge from another former Labour MP in the form of Simon Danczuk, who was suspended from the party in 2015 after sending inappropriate messages to a teenager. Danczuk, Rochdale’s MP from 2010 to 2017, was standing for Reform UK, the anti-immigration party founded by Nigel Farage.

Galloway, 69, previously unseated his former party in Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005 and Bradford West in 2012, both following campaigns based heavily on events in the Middle East.

Like Galloway’s previous campaigns, the Rochdale contest was mired in controversy. In the week when MPs were raising concerns over their safety, Galloway said the names of Labour MPs were “dripping in blood” after the party’s ceasefire amendment, which did not go as far as pro-Palestinian supporters wanted.

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Earlier this week a 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of sending a death threat to Danczuk, who hired security guards for the final two days of campaigning.

Galloway’s team said its banners and garden posts had been ripped down in an effort to stop it getting the word out.

There were allegations of dirty tricks on polling day too, as Reform UK lodged a formal complaint about Galloway activists distributing leaflets outside polling stations.

Richard Tice, the leader of Reform, claimed the contest had not been “free or fair” and made unspecified suggestions that the postal vote had been rigged.

“This by-election and result should act as a serious wake-up call to those in power and indeed to the entire electorate,” he said.

“We are supposed to be a beacon of democracy, this shameful contest has been more characteristic of a failed state.”

Galloway’s team had earlier accused Labour canvassers of speaking to voters inside polling stations.