George Galloway says 'this is for Gaza' as he wins Rochdale by-election
George Galloway has made a shock return as an MP after winning the Rochdale by-election where Labour ditched its candidate.
In a chaotic victory speech, the ex-Labour and Respect MP, who now leads the Workers Party of Britain, declared "this is for Gaza" before criticising Keir Starmer and vowing councillors in the Labour-run town hall "have to go".
The maverick politician's speech was interrupted by a heckler who accused him of being a "climate change denier" and threw confetti over him before she was drowned out by shouts of "Gall-o-way! Gall-o-way" from his supporters.
The Rochdale by-election was triggered following the death last month of sitting Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd, who had a majority of 9,668 votes at the last election. But Mr Starmer's party withdrew its support for its new candidate Azhar Ali after a recording emerged of him suggesting Israel deliberately allowed its citizens to be killed so it could invade Gaza. It meant there was no Labour-endorsed candidate for whom Rochdale constituents could vote. Mr Galloway was expelled from Labour after being found to have brought the party into disrepute in 2003.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it is 'extremely concerned' about George Galloway's return to the Commons (Andy Stenning)The politician, who famously pretended to be a cat on Celebrity Big Brother, won the by-election with a majority of of 5,697 votes, after scooping up a total of 12,335 seats. Mr Ali, who was still listed as Labour's candidate on ballot papers as it was too late to edit them, gained a total of just 2,402 votes.
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A Labour spokesman apologised to the people of Rochdale and said they "deeply regret" having not found a candidate for the by-election. They said Mr Galloway "is only interested in stoking fear and division" and said he "only won because Labour did not stand".
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The surprise runner-up was David Tully, a local businessman and independent candidate, who secured more than 6,600 votes. The Tory candidate Paul Ellison came third with 3,731 votes. The turnout at polling stations on Thursday was 39.7%, a little higher than the two recent by-elections a fortnight ago in Wellingborough and Kingswood.
Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who stood as the candidate for the Reform UK , which was founded as the Brexit Party by Nigel Farage, came in sixth place at the by-election. The ex-Rochdale MP, who was suspended from the party in 2015 after sending explicit messages to a 17 year-old girl, was the first famous politician to switch to the party.
George Galloway pretended to be a cat on Celebrity Big Brother and licked another contestant's hand (Internet Unknown)Reform UK's leader Richard Tice claimed Mr Danczuk had received a death threat during the campaign and said his party's campaign team had been subject to "daily intimidation and slurs". Independent candidate William Howarth agreed with Mr Tice that there had been an "element of intimidation" during the campaign. Mr Galloway denied his supporters had engaged in any intimidation, and has since claimed Mr Tice asked him to stand for Reform UK in the by-election.
In his victory speech, Mr Galloway told Mr Starmer he "will pay a high price, 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, before pledging to campaign for the return of a maternity ward to Rochdale and to help save the town's troubled football club.
The new Rochdale MP later added that he hoped former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now sits as an independent MP, will introduce him in the Commons. Mr Corbyn was suspended from Labour after an antisemitism row.
George Galloway declared 'this is for Gaza' before attacking Keir Starmer in his victory speech (Getty Images)The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has said it is "extremely concerned" about how Mr Galloway will use his platform after winning the Rochdale by-election. A spokesman for the charity said: "George Galloway has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community."
Mr Galloway heavily campaigned on the Palestinian cause and Gaza, with the hope of gaining the votes of thousands of Muslims. During the by-election campaign, he called Israel as an “apartheid” state and chants such as "from the river to the sea", which are considered antisemitic, have been allegedly heard at rallies. Mr Galloway denies he is antisemitic but was criticised by Jewish groups during the campaign. Director at Public Affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews Daniel Sugarman last month described him as "perhaps the most hideous individual in politics".
Mr Galloway has previously been investigated by police over comments he made declaring Bradford an "Israel-free zone" in 2014. He was later cleared of the allegations. In 2019, he was sacked from talkRADIO after praising Liverpool's win against Tottenham in the Champions League, before adding: "No #Israel flags on the Cup!" He said he tweeted it after claiming he saw Tottenham fans with flags of Israel. The football club said it was "astounding in this day and age to read such blatant anti-Semitism published on a social platform by someone who is still afforded air time on a radio station".
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Mr Galloway served as a Labour MP from 1987 to 2003, before being expelled from the party. He then served as an independent MP, before joining the now dissolved left-wing Respect Party, for which he served as an MP between 2005-2010, and again in 2012-2015.
He went on to found the far-left Workers Party of Britain, which he now leads. He will become the only MP from the party to sit in Parliament, alongside 348 Tory MPs, 199 Labour MPs, 43 SNP MPs and 15 Lib Dems, as well as independent MPs and those from other parties.
Mr Galloway was expelled from Labour over his criticism of the Iraq war. Mr Galloway claimed the war was illegal and urged British troops not to follow "illegal orders", and called then Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair and then US President George Bush "wolves".
Outside of politics, Mr Galloway is recognised by many as having appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 where he role-played being a cat and licked the hand of fellow contestant, actress Rula Lenska. In an interview with the Telegraph in 2022, she described the scene as the worst moment of her career.
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