He is the maverick politician who never gives up, and now George Galloway is back in Parliament with a stunning win in the Rochdale by-election, after a campaign that put the Gaza war at the centre of the debate.
“Keir Starmer – this is for Gaza,” the former Labour MP shouted, after securing 12,335 votes, almost 6,000 more than any other contender.
Mr Galloway will take his seat in the Commons for the Workers Party of Britain, a new left-wing party that he founded.
Labour had ditched their candidate, Azhar Ali, over comments that were widely condemned as antisemitic.
Mr Ali apologised for his remarks.
Mr Galloway has been an MP for Labour until 2003, when he was expelled for his opposition to the Iraq war. He then served in the Commons as an independent and as a Respect Party MP for three different constituencies between 2003 and 2015.
He left the mainstream parties in the dust in the Rochdale vote, which was triggered by the death of Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd. The runner-up was independent and local businessman Dave Tully.
In his victory speech, Mr Galloway emphasised the local voters’ rejection of the two main parties in Westminster.
He said: “Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside and they both got well and truly spanked tonight here in Rochdale.”
He was interrupted by a heckler who accused him of being a climate change denier, but she was silenced by his supporters. He also had orange confetti thrown over him by rival candidate Rev Mark Coleman, a Just Stop Oil activist. But none of this deterred the 69-year-old, who went on to warn that his former party would “pay a high price” for “enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe” in Gaza.
Mr Galloway has long campaigned for causes related to the Middle East, especially for Palestinian rights. He has often stood for election in constituencies with a large Muslim population, such as Rochdale.
He said he had 60 Workers Party colleagues ready to stand in the general election and there would be “a shifting of the tectonic plates in scores of parliamentary constituencies”.
He said: “It’s true that every Muslim is bitterly angry at Keir Starmer and his misnamed Labour party – but you would be very foolish if you didn’t realise that millions of other citizens of our country are too.”
He added: “Starting 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.”
