The leader of the British Workers’ Party, the veteran and controversial leftist politician George Galloway, took the seat of the Rochdale constituency (northern England) from Labor in the by-elections – with 39.7% of the votes -, a victory that he has dedicated to Gaza, an issue that has focused the campaign.
Galloway, one of the most divisive British politicians in national politics, won over Keir Starmer’s party in a vote that took place following the death of Labor MP Tony Lloyd, in which he obtained 12,335 votes ( 39.7% of the total) and a majority of 5,697.
During the pre-election campaign, Labor, which finished in fourth place despite having until now maintained a majority in that constituency of almost 10,000 votes, withdrew support for its candidate, Azhar Ali, after a recording was made public in which He believed that Israel was complicit in the Hamas attacks on October 7.
After the results were known, Galloway declared that “this is for Gaza”, in a triumphant speech directed against the current leader of Labor, Keir Starmer, whom he warned that “he will pay a high price, for allowing, encouraging, covering up the catastrophe that happening now in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.
“Labor realizes that they have lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them generation after generation,” said the winner.
The veteran politician focused his proposals for the Rochdale elections on the Palestinian issue, taking into account the vote of the strong Asian community and Labour’s support for Israel.
After the former Labor Party and Respect MP, businessman and independent candidate David Tully came in second place, who appeared at the elections at the last minute, almost when the deadline for admitting candidates was ending.
The campaign leading up to these elections has been marked by controversy and accusations of intimidation and divisive tactics and has been described as chaotic by local media.
In addition to Labor withdrawing its own candidate’s support over his anti-Israel comments, Reform UK leader Richard Tice alleged that his candidate, former Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, received death threats and that his party was subject to ” daily intimidation.
In the past, Galloway, a charismatic politician who maintains a strained relationship with Labor, was an MP for that party until 2003, when he was expelled for his comments on the Iraq war. He later held seats in the House of Commons (lower) as an independent MP and also as a Respect MP in three constituencies between 2003 and 2015.
