Galloway overturned Labour’s 9,668 majority to win the by-election

George Galloway has returned to Parliament after winning the Rochdale by election. The by election was triggered when veteran Labour MP Tony Lloyd died in-post at the age of 73 in January.
Galloway overturned Labour’s 9,668 majority to win the by-election in the previously Labour safe seat with a majority of 5,697, securing 12,335 votes overall.
The Labour Party has slammed Galloway for only being interested in ‘stoking fear and division’ after his victory saying that it deeply regretted being unable to field a candidate in the by-election.
An independent candidate, David Tully, finished second on 6,638 votes. The Conservative candidate Paul Ellison finished third on 3,731 votes.
Labour’s former candidate Azhar Ali, who the party withdrew backing for during the campaign because of anti-semitic statements he had made, but who it could not take off the ballot, finished fourth behind the Tories with 2,402 votes – just 7.7% of the vote.
For a full breakdown of the results, see below:
Workers Party: George Galloway – 12,335
Independent: David Tully – 6,638
Conservative: Paul Ellison – 3,731
Labour: Azhar Ali – 2,402
Liberal Democrats: Iain Donaldson – 2,164
Reform UK: Simon Danczuk – 1,968
Independent: William Howarth – 523
Independent: Mark Coleman – 455
Green: Guy Otten – 436
Independent: Michael Howarth – 246
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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