George Galloway became Rochdale MP today after turning the by-election into an unsubtle referendum on the war in Gaza.
The former Labour MP is a long-term critic of Israel who has a record of contesting seats in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters and tapping into unease and anger at the situation in Palestinian territories.
Rochdale is no exception – some 18 per cent of residents said they followed Islam in the 2021 Census, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Mr Galloway talked before and after the election about a desire to put Rochdale ‘on the map’, re-open the local hospital’s A&E, which closed in 2011, and rejuvenate the high street with shops including a new Primark.
In reality his campaign was designed just to repeatedly punch the Labour bruise over Gaza, a campaign made easier when Sir Keir Starmer finally removed party support from candidate Azhar Ali for voicing a conspiracy theory connected to the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
In the run-up to the vote, Mr Galloway proudly posed for pictures outside his campaign headquarters in a car showroom bedecked with a sign in the colours of the Palestinian flag.
The black, white, red and green was also all over his campaign literature, which branded him ‘Pro Palestine, now and forever’ before mentioning any local issues.
Mr Galloway proudly posed for pictures outside his campaign headquarters in a car showroom bedecked with a sign in the colours of the Palestinian flag.
The black, white, red and green was also all over his campaign literature, which branded him ‘Pro Palestine, now and forever’ before mentioning any local issues.
The former Labour MP is a long-term critic of Israel who has a record of contesting seats in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters and tapping into unease and anger at the situation in Palestinian territories.
His campaign was designed just to repeatedly kick the Labour bruise over Gaza, a campaign made easier when Sir Keir Starmer finally removed party support from Azhar Ali, for voicing a conspiracy theory connected to the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
And his acceptance speech also went for the jugular: ‘Keir Starmer – this is for Gaza. And you will pay a high price, in enabling, encouraging and covering for, the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.’
Mr Galloway said Rochdale, once a prosperous industrial town, had been badly let down and was now one of the poorest.
He cited the ending of maternity services in the town and the troubled status of the local football club, Rochdale AFC, and vowed councillors in the Labour-run town hall ‘have to go.’
But he soon returned to party politics.
He continued: ‘I want to tell Mr Starmer above all, that the plates have shifted tonight.
‘Beginning here in the north west, in the West Midlands, in London, from Ilford to Bethnal Green and Bow, Labour is on notice that they have lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them, generation after generation.
‘Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside and they both got well and truly spanked tonight!’
To cheers, he ended his speech with: ‘God bless you. God bless Rochdale. God bless Gaza.’
An outspoken Scot, Galloway said this week he wanted to highlight the sense of Rochdale’s decline, local governance and the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.
‘Gaza obviously matters … not only (to) Muslims, certainly all Muslims, but also many others,’ he told Reuters.
‘(Rochdale) had an identity and that identity has been gradually erased. So I’m trying to put Rochdale back on the map, nationally and internationally.’
Galloway said it was ‘Labour schtick’ to suggest he was an opportunist, adding that he had long connections with the Manchester regions and knew the town well.
But in the past there have been questions about how much effort he puts in as an MP after the election excitement has died down.
In 2013, when he was MP for Bradford West, he told Total Politics magazine ‘I like elections more than I like serving. I relish them in the way most politicians don’t’ and said being in Parliament was ‘2 per cent terrifying and 98 per cent tedium’.
Mr Galloway talked before the election about a desire to put Rochdale ‘on the map’, re-open the local hospital’s (pictured) A&E, which closed in 2011, and rejuvenating the high street (below) with shops including a new Primark.
He also pledged to help the town’s football team, which was relegated from the Football League for the first time in 100 years last year and may go bust
The following year it was revealed only two MPs made more money from outside earnings than him. Records show he made more than £300,000 on top of his Parliamentary salary through £1,600-per-hour appearances on Iran’s Press TV channel and RT.
He was heavily defeated in the seat at the 2015 general election, which was won by Labour’s Naz Shah with a majority of more than 11,000.
And this prompted some commentators to suggest Mr Galloway may spend only months as an MP this time.
Pollster James Johnson of JL Partners said: ‘George Galloway’s win will have a big political impact on the Israel-Gaza debate.
‘But in electoral terms, it will end up with the same fate as his wins in 2005 and 2012. Anomalies that seem big at the time, but are swept away come a general election.’
Josh Williams, director of strategy at Labour Together, added: ‘While it’s obviously galling to see George Galloway back in Parliament, I expect his stay will be brief. Labour always knew this could be the cost of removing its support for Azhar Ali. That made it both the right thing to do and a brave thing to do.’
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