George Galloway Loses Seat in Rochdale 4 Months After By-Election Victory

George Galloway speaking to the media during a press conference on Parliament Square in central London on April 30, 2024. Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Labour won Rochdale back from the Workers’ Party leader George Galloway, who won the seat four months ago in a by-election dominated by the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza.

On Feb. 29 Mr. Galloway, a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause, won the seat from Labour with almost 40 percent of the vote.

The by-election was caused by the death of Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd, but it then emerged that the candidate chosen to replace him, Azhar Ali, had told a meeting he believed Israel had allowed Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks to happen as a pretext to invade Gaza.

Labour pulled out of supporting Mr. Ali, who ended up winning only 2,402 votes.

But Labour chose political journalist Paul Waugh as their candidate for the general election and he won the seat back, beating Mr. Galloway with a majority of 1,440.

New Rochdale MP: ‘I Won’t Let You Down’

Afterwards Mr. Waugh wrote on social media platform X, “Many, many thanks to everyone who helped us take back Rochdale for Labour.”

“It’s the honour of my life to represent the town I love. I won’t let you down,” added Mr. Waugh, a former political editor with the Huffington Post.

But while Mr. Galloway lost, several other independents who campaigned on the issue of Gaza and criticised Labour’s stance on the conflict claimed success in seats with large numbers of Muslim voters.

Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth lost his seat in Leicester South to independent candidate Shockat Adam.

On his website Mr. Adam said: “I will champion Leicester’s values of global peace and justice, which have been neglected by the current government. Our constituency MP refused to vote for a ceasefire to end the bloodshed in Gaza, resulting in the needless deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.”

Independent candidate Ayoub Khan defeated Labour’s Khalid Mahmood in Birmingham Perry Barr, while in Dewsbury and Batley, independent candidate Iqbal Mohamed beat the Labour candidate Heather Iqbal.

In Blackburn, Labour’s Kate Hollern lost to Adnan Hussain, who appealed to Muslim voters on the Gaza issue.

Labour’s Jess Phillips held onto her seat in Birmingham, with a majority of less than 1,000 over Workers’ Party candidate Jody McIntyre.

In its manifesto, the Labour Party has committed to recognising a Palestinian state, but leader Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised for his stance in the early months of the conflict.

Sir Keir was also heckled with shouts of “free Palestine” at his election count in Holborn and St. Pancras, where his own share of the vote fell by 17 percent.

The Labour Party lost a number of seats to independents in the local elections in May, particularly in cities and towns with large Muslim populations.

PA Media contributed to this report.