Starmer apologises to Rochdale voters after Galloway by-election win

It has been a busy day of political reaction after George Galloway's by-election victory in Rochdale.

We will shortly be bringing our live page coverage to a close. But before we do, here is a recap of what happened overnight and some of the reaction that has come through today.

• George Galloway has won his first parliamentary election in nine years, and says his victory in Rochdale is Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's "worst nightmare".
• Galloway, who leads the left-wing populist Workers Party of Britain, took the former Labour seat with almost 40% of the vote - beating independent candidate David Tully, who came second.
• In his victory speech Galloway addressed the Labour leader directly and said his victory was "for Gaza".
• Starmer has apologised to the people of Rochdale but insists he made the right decision to withdraw support for Labour candidate Azhar Ali over his allegedly antisemitic remarks.
• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called the by-election "one of the most divisive in recent times."
• Several Jewish groups have also expressed concern over the victory of Galloway, who is an outspoken critic of Israel.
• Galloway has told the BBC his party has 60 candidates ready to stand in the upcoming general election, and that his victory "could be the beginning of something new, something big".

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We can bring you some more reaction to George Galloway's victory now, this time from Tory MP Michael Gove.

The Levelling Up Secretary has accused Galloway of "fostering a politics of division when we need to come together".

"I think that his position on the Middle East, the approach that he has taken towards that conflict, is not going to contribute to peace in the Middle East.

"I am fundamentally opposed to the platform on which George Galloway stood."

Gove describes Galloway's win as a "regrettable moment".

Andy Burnham, Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, says his party "let the people of Rochdale down" over its decision not to field a candidate.

He says the decision didn't give voters "enough choice at the election", and it was right Sir Keir Starmer had apologised.

"We will now work with him and his team to make sure there is some reflection on what has happened," he adds, "so that we can all come together and work together to regain the trust of the people of Rochdale."

Burnham says his city region was proud of its diversity and community cohesion, having "a large Muslim community but the biggest Jewish community outside of London".

"We will work with anybody who seeks to promote that cohesion," he stresses, "but we will stand up to anybody who seeks to bring division or hate to our city region."

Janice, in her 60s, has lived in Rochdale all her life and she’s not impressed.

She was up at 2am, she tells me, to watch the result coming in and found herself getting anger and angrier.

“Galloway’s not a man for Rochdale. He’s in it for himself. He’s a divisive character. And he spends all his time in London anyway.”

Janice, didn’t want to give her full name because of “intimidation” surrounding the election saying "it’s been getting really nasty”.

She voted for the independent David Tully and I asked her if she would have voted Labour ordinarily.

“No,” she says emphatically. “I’ve never voted Labour, they’ve ruined the place. Don’t come to Rochdale! There’s nothing here anymore.”

The PM was twice asked if he welcomed, or was worried by, the return of George Galloway to the Commons after his by-election win.

Rishi Sunak said the Conservatives were the only party to run a “positive campaign focussed on local issues”.

Earlier this morning, George Galloway's deputy in the Workers Party of Britain praised his victory, saying mainstream political parties "have failed the people of Britain".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, former Labour MP Chris Williamson said Galloway would now be able to "speak truth to power" in Westminster, accusing the government and Labour of "effectively facilitating the genocide in Gaza".

Williamson also refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, in which it killed about 1,200 people, saying: "You can't expect to live in a situation where people have been oppressed for 75 years and not expect a reaction."

Williamson was blocked from standing as a Labour candidate in the 2019 general election over accusations of antisemitism. He later resigned from the party.

Until recently, the government and Labour have called for a "sustainable ceasefire", arguing an immediate end in fighting could allow Hamas to regroup and launch another attack on Israel.

But last month Labour shifted its position and called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict in October.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that George Galloway only won the Rochdale by-election "because Labour didn't stand a candidate".

Starmer said that at the general election they would put forward "a first-class candidate, a unifier" to win the seat back for the party.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made his first comments since George Galloway's victory.

He says the by-election was "one of the most divisive in recent times".

Asked whether Galloway's victory would inflame tensions, Sunak says it was "very concerning to see reports of intimidation".

Sunak says he is "pleased" that the Conservative Party was "the only party to run a really positive campaign focused on local issues with a great local candidate, Paul Ellison".

The PM was speaking during a visit to a manufacturing facility in Montrose, Scotland.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has reacted to George Galloway's victory in the Rochdale by-election.

A spokesperson says: "George Galloway is a demagogue and conspiracy theorist who has brought the politics of division and hate to every place he has ever stood for Parliament.

"His election is a dark day for the Jewish community in this country and for British politics in general.

"We believe he should be shunned as a pariah by all Parliamentarians."

Galloway is known to generate controversy. He views himself as part of the international struggle for socialism and against imperialism - in particular US imperialism - and a staunch opponent of Zionism. He has described Israel as an apartheid state and called for it to be dismantled.

He also breached Ofcom rules on impartiality on multiple occasions as a broadcaster and in 2018 was sacked by TalkRADIO for a social media post deemed antisemitic.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has just spoken on camera in his first public comments since George Galloway's victory in Rochdale.

Asked whether Galloway's victory is his fault, Starmer replies that he only won because Labour didn't stand a candidate.

"I regret that we had to withdraw our candidate, and I apologise to voters in Rochdale," Starmer says.

"I took that decision, it was the right decision, and when I say I've changed the Labour party, I mean it.

"We will put a first class candidate, a unifier, before the voters in Rochdale at the general election."

George Galloway has a history of overturning Labour majorities with large swings.

In the 2005 general election he won Bethnal Green and Bow from Labour with a 26.2% swing.

He won the 2012 Bradford West by-election from Labour with a 36.6% swing.

Now he's won Rochdale from Labour with a whopping 41.8% swing.

That makes it the fourth biggest swing ever at a by-election (Bradford West was the sixth biggest swing).

At times when he has lost he has also got a decent percent of the vote - he came third in Batley and Spen by-election with 21.9%.

In all, he's stood for parliament 12 times, and won seven times.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

George Galloway says his victory in Rochdale means Labour leader Keir Starmer will have "woken up this morning to his worst nightmare".

Galloway told GB News earlier this morning his Workers Party of Britain has got "59 parliamentary candidates ready to go, and will stand therefore in three-score Labour seats" in the general election.

He wants to "either defeat them ourselves or cause their defeat".

The political maverick also flagged backing independent candidates, "many of whom are energised by what happened tonight".

The Workers Party will be targeting seats around Rochdale including Oldham, Bolton, Blackburn, Bury and Tameside in greater Manchester, according to Galloway.

Also calling in to BBC 5 Live is Selina, a Muslim Rochdale resident.

She’s very pleased Galloway got in, adding “I’m very, very happy”.

“The time that he’s been in Rochdale, he’s got a lot of the people that were against each other from different parties to speak.”

She says she's pleased as she feels that Galloway is “spreading the word on Gaza and Palestine” which no-one has managed to do in the last ten years.

"His voice will be heard throughout the world," she says.

She admits however, that the issues of the state of the local A&E service and deprivation of the town centre still need to be addressed.

Callers to BBC Radio 5 Live are voicing their opinions on the by-election.

Neela from Littleborough in Rochdale says the result "felt like it was a bad April Fool's Day joke".

She believes voters were “duped” into voting for Galloway.

“It’s divisive, it’s a bad day for Rochdale”.

“The man is only interested in himself, a position, making a noise, annoying the main parties.”

An organisation representing the Jewish community in Greater Manchester says the election of George Galloway is "a cause of significant concern".

The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region (JRC) says Galloway, "by his own admission... intends to speak about the conflict in Gaza before focusing on the people who have sent him to the Commons".

Its statement continues: "Galloway has a history of divisive rhetoric and associations with people who hold controversial views.

"At a time of heightened tension, toxic public discourse and instability, further populist speech will create anxiety for Jewish people who are already contending with record levels of hate crime.

"Community cohesion is coming under unprecedented pressure. It is now more important than ever that people concentrate on building bridges by ensuring a conflict taking place thousands of miles away is not used as an excuse to target Jewish people across the region.

"We have no doubt given his extensive record of contentious behaviour, that George Galloway will hinder rather than help with this critically important work."

George Galloway’s victory suggests the war in Gaza was an important issue for Muslim voters in Rochdale.

Whether it has a wider significance is less obvious.

This by-election has been a bruising experience in British politics.

One senior Conservative MP says Galloway’s victory has exposed what he calls Britain’s “fraying social fabric with antisemitism and sectarianism proving vote winners”.

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Labour MP Ellie Reeves says George Galloway would not have won in Rochdale if her party ran a candidate.

She says the party "regrets" not standing somebody after Azhar Ali was disowned by the party.

"We apologise to the people of Rochdale for that," Reeves tells Radio 4's Today programme.

"If Labour stood I don't believe George Galloway would have won."

Reeves, who is also Labour's deputy national campaign coordinator, says it was "unprecedented" for the party not to run a candidate, but it was the "right decision".

As a reminder, Labour's suspended candidate Ali was disowned by the party when a recording of him making allegedly antisemitic comments emerged, for which he apologised.

But he was still the Labour candidate on the ballot box because under electoral law it was too late to replace him.