March 1, 2024, 15:20 GMT
Updated 1 hour ago
video caption,
The Labor leader says he will only field “top quality candidates” at the next general election
Sir Keir Starmer has apologized to voters in Rochdale for rejecting Labour's by-election candidate but insisted it was “the right decision”.
George Galloway stormed to victory in the election campaign, while Labour's suspended candidate Azhar Ali came a distant fourth.
Mr Galloway described the result as Sir Keir's “worst nightmare”.
The Labor leader said Mr Galloway only won because the Labor party withdrew support from Mr Ali over his comments, which were widely seen as anti-Semitic.
Independent candidate David Tully – a local businessman – came in a surprise second place, relegating the Conservatives to third place.
In his victory speech, Mr Galloway, leader of the Workers Party of Britain, described Sir Keir and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as “two cheeks of the same bum and both got a good beating here in Rochdale tonight”.
More on the Rochdale by-election
Mr. Galloway has long championed Middle East causes, including Palestinian rights, and said his victory was “pro-Gaza.”
He warned the Labor leader his party would “pay a heavy price” for “enabling, encouraging and covering up the disaster in the region”.
After the defeat, Sir Keir said: “I regret that we have had to withdraw our candidate and apologize to the voters of Rochdale.”
“I made this decision. It was the right decision.”
He promised Labor would field “a first-class candidate, a unifier” to fight for the seat in a general election expected later this year.
Mr Sunak said the Rochdale election campaign was “one of the most contentious campaigns we have seen in recent times” but that the Tories had “run a really positive campaign”.
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George Galloway is pelted with orange confetti by Just Stop Oil campaigner Rev Mark Coleman as he gives his victory speech in Rochdale
The by-election was triggered by the death of Labor MP Sir Tony Lloyd, who held the seat with a majority of almost 10,000 votes.
Labor had been expected to win, but its campaign was thrown into turmoil when the Chron published comments by its candidate Ali that were widely seen as anti-Semitic.
Mr Ali apologized for his comments, but the party decided to withdraw its support and ordered its members to stop campaigning for him.
The Israel-Gaza conflict played a large role in the by-election, and Galloway told voters in a campaign flyer: “The people of Gaza don't have a voice in this election, you do.”
The Labor Party was divided over how to respond to the war, and last year several frontliners resigned their posts to vote for an immediate ceasefire.
Veteran political pollster Sir John Curtice told the BBC that the Rochdale result would increase pressure on Sir Keir to toughen Labour's stance on Israel.
However, he doubted this would have much impact on the outcome of the general election as it was “unlikely that anyone else would have the opportunity to… exploit this issue.” [the war in Gaza] in the way that Mr. Galloway uniquely knows how to do.”
Mr Tully, who received 6,638 votes, is well known in Rochdale as he runs a garage business and is involved in the town's rugby club.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I feel like I've turned the heads of people who don't normally vote because nothing ever really changes in mainstream politics and mainstream parties.”
Reform UK performed well in recent by-elections, coming third in both Wellingborough and Kingswood, but their candidate in Rochdale, the city's former Labor MP Simon Danczuk, was relegated to sixth place with 1,968 votes.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it was “extremely concerned” by Mr Galloway's victory, saying he had a “horrible record of incitement against the Jewish community” and called, among other things, for Bradford, when he was an MP there, to be described as “Israel -free” to declare zone”.
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