Rochdale by-election: George Galloway wins as Labour tumbles to fourth

1 March 2024 • 4:31am

4:08AM

Galloway claims Tice asked him to stand for Reform

George Galloway has claimed Richard Tice asked him to become a Reform UK candidate in a recent by-election.

Asked about Mr Tice’s claims of intimidation during the campaign, Mr Galloway told Reform UK: “I think Mr Tice has rather lost his balance, and Mr Farage too, and I remind Mr Tice that I have on my telephone a text from him inviting me to be the Reform UK candidate in a by-election not that long ago.

“I’d prefer not to publish it, but if he keeps telling lies about me I will have to tell the truth about him.”

Asked whether his supporters had engaged in bad behaviour, he said: “Absolutely none. Ask the police, ask the police if a single one of our supporters has been arrested or spoken to by them.”

Reform leader Richard Tice, left, with Simon Danczuk, the party’s Rochdale candidate

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

3:43AM

Campaign Against Antisemitism worried by Galloway win

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has said it is “extremely concerned” about how George Galloway will use his platform after winning the Rochdale by-election.

A spokesperson for the CAA said: “George Galloway has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community.

“He has previously and infamously declared Bradford an ‘Israel-free zone’. He said of his previous election loss that ‘the venal, the vile, the racists and the Zionists will all be celebrating’. He described David Baddiel, a Jewish comic who is well-known for not closely associating himself with Israel, as a ‘vile Israel-fanatic’.

“He claimed that the institutional antisemitism within the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn was really ‘a disgraceful campaign of Goebbelsian fiction’, in reference to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propagandist.

“He was sacked by TalkRadio over his views. Recently he has described the atrocity carried out by Hamas on October 7 as a ‘concentration camp breakout’ and referred to Hamas terrorists as ‘fighters’.

“Mr Galloway has now been chosen by the voters of Rochdale to represent them and is once again an MP. 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.”

George Galloway has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community.

He has previously and infamously declared Bradford an ‘Israel-free zone’. He said of his previous election loss that ‘the venal, the vile, the racists and the Zionists will all be celebrating’. He described… pic.twitter.com/J3eNYHAZm2

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) March 1, 2024

3:23AM

Galloway: This is for Gaza

After being declared the winning candidate in Rochdale, George Galloway began his speech from the podium.

He said: “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.

“Rochdale town councillors, I put you on notice now, that I hope to put together a grand alliance…”

Mr Galloway was then interrupted by a woman, shouting that he was a “climate change denier” before she was shouted down and drowned out by shouts of “Gall-o-way! Gall-o-way!”.

He added: “The councillors have to go.

“I want to tell Mr Starmer above all, that the plates have shifted tonight. This is going to spark a movement, a landslide, a shifting of the tectonic plates in scores of parliamentary constituencies.

“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.”

3:08AM

‘Gaza George’ Galloway washes away his past

The man once known as Gorgeous George, on account of his extramarital activities, rebranded himself as Gaza George for this bizarrest of by-elections.

Never far from controversy, the 69-year-old Scot stood on a relentlessly pro-Palestine platform which featured a string of personal attacks on Sir Keir Starmer.

With his laser-like pursuit of the Muslim vote and almost singular focus on a foreign policy issue, he once more sought to rewrite the rulebook of British politics.

Rochdale is just the latest waypoint in a political career that has spanned five decades and never seen Mr Galloway stray far from the national media spotlight.

Read more: ‘Gaza George’ Galloway washes away his past – and almost two decades of Labour rule

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

2:50AM

Galloway wins

George Galloway has won the seat of Rochdale and is the town’s new MP.

Here are the results:

George Galloway WP – 12,335

David Tully IND 6,638

Paul Ellison CON – 3,731

Azhar Ali LAB – 2,402

Iain Donaldson LD – 2,164

Simon Danczuk RP – 1,968

2:34AM

Result could be imminent

Council officials are gathering the media and observers around the podium at Rochdale leisure centre, suggesting the declaration of the result is imminent.

George Galloway, wearing a red and black striped tie and his trademark black hat, has gathered next to the stage with the other candidates.

He is set to win a comfortable victory when the final vote tallies are announced in a few minutes’ time.

1:59AM

Reform leader questions postal voting

Richard Tice has claimed the Rochdale by-election was not “free and fair” after Reform UK’s candidate and campaigners allegedly suffered abuse and death threats.

The Reform UK leader also questioned a sharp rise in the number of postal votes cast, saying they were “unquestionably open to significant abuse”.

In an angry speech at the count in Rochdale leisure centre he reeled off a series of allegations about the mistreatment of his party’s campaign team.

Simon Danczuk, a former Labour MP for the Greater Manchester town, has been representing Reform UK in an ill-tempered by-election battle.

Mr Tice said that Mr Danczuk and his team had been “subjected to death threats” and “suffered vile racist abuse” during the campaign.

Read more: Reform leader alleges suspicious postal voting and intimidation in Rochdale by-election

1:53AM

Pictured: Count enters final stages

Credit: REUTERS

Credit: GUZELIAN

Credit: Guzelian

12:57AM

Reform leader suspicious of rise in postal voting

Richard Tice, the Reform UK leader, has told reporters that abuse of his party’s candidate and a sharp rise in postal voting meant it has not been “a free and fair election”.

In an angry statement to reporters he said that “what we have witnessed and experienced in Rochdale is deeply disturbing” and has “implications for our democracy”.

He said that his party’s candidate, the former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, and its campaigners had been subject to racist abuse and death threats.

“The results of the Rochdale by-election should act as a stark wake up call to those in power – and the entire electorate,” he said. “This shameful contest has been more characteristic of a failed state.

“Unless something dramatic changes, our fear is that it will be repeated in dozens of constituencies across the UK at the general election. By Christmas, we face the prospect of numerous extremist anti-Semitic lawmakers in the House of Commons.”

Now the polls have closed, people across the UK need to know the truth about this election campaign – and the implications for our democracy.

To suggest that a parliamentary election in this country has not been truly free and fair is a very serious allegation indeed.…

— Richard Tice 🇬🇧 (@TiceRichard) March 1, 2024

12:38AM

Turnout less than 40pc

The turnout for the Rochdale by-election has just been announced at 39.7pc, which is a relatively low figure by historic standards.

It is fractionally higher than in the Wellingborough and Kingswood by-elections two weeks ago, but still lower than many recent contests.

That is perhaps not surprising given that the campaign has been mired in controversy, with Labour having to withdraw support for its candidate.

There is speculation that Azhar Ali, who stayed in the race as an independent, could come in third place with Labour voters having stayed at home en masse.

12:37AM

Chris Williamson: We’ll send shockwaves through Westminster

Chris Williamson, a former Labour MP who is now the deputy leader of the Workers Party, said a win for Mr Galloway will “send shockwaves through Westminster”.

He also defended Mr Galloway’s relentless focus on Gaza in the campaign, saying it is “absolutely right that people have an international dimension to their political outlook”.

“We believe that we’ve won comfortably today and it really will send shockwaves through the Palace of Westminster,” he told Sky News.

Asked about the focus on Gaza, he added: “It’s a crucially important international issue.

“Millions of people in Britain are horrified by the scenes they’re seeing on their television screens and their smartphones and they cannot believe that the political class are facilitating this ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

12:20AM

What time is the result?

Officials and politicians at the count say the result is set to be declared at about 2am – an hour earlier than initially expected.

Mr Galloway, who is now widely predicted to win, is expected to hold a victory rally shortly afterwards.

The counting is proceeding at a swift pace within Rochdale leisure centre amid a low hum of activity.

Dozens of officials are sorting ballot papers into neat piles in the main sports hall, against the backdrop of garish tropical green walls.

11:55PM

Galloway declares victory already

Sources close to George Galloway are already claiming that the veteran left-wing campaigner has “comfortably” won tonight’s Rochdale by-election.

Counting has been under way for just under two hours in the contest, which has been marked by controversies around all the main candidates.

In a statement upon the closing of the polls, Mr Galloway said: “Thank you to every voter who took the time to send a message to the political class today.

“More than ever, they are two cheeks of the same backside, and in just a few hours they are set to get a good kicking.

“No matter how you voted today, thank you for doing so. I promise, if elected tonight, to be an MP for all Rochdalians – no matter who you voted for.”