Left-winger George Galloway set to return in parliament

LONDON: Veteran left-wing political maverick George Galloway won a vote to become the new lawmaker for the English town of Rochdale on Friday, vowing to be a thorn in the side for the opposition Labour Party before a national election it is tipped to win.

After running a pro-Palestinian campaign, Galloway won over many of Rochdale’s Muslim community by attacking both Labour and Britain’s governing Conservatives for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas, making a foreign conflict the major issue – unusual in a by-election when local concerns usually dominate.

Elected to parliament for the seventh time, Galloway will be an irritant to Labour, a party he once belonged to before being ejected for criticising then-prime minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war.

His victory underlines the divisions in Britain over the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its fifth month and has brought protesters onto British streets in support of both sides.

British lawmakers have faced threats to do more to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza and with the national election later this year, Galloway’s return to parliament will be short-lived but explosive.

“(Labour leader) Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza,” Galloway said in his victory speech. “Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside and they both got well and truly spanked tonight here in Rochdale.”

Galloway won 12,335 votes compared with 6,638 for second-placed David Tully, an independent candidate. Turnout was low at 39.7%.

The former Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, came fourth after the opposition party pulled its support from him after he was recorded espousing conspiracy theories about Israel.

It will be the first time Galloway’s left-wing Workers Party of Britain has been represented in parliament. Galloway also campaigned to reinstate maternity services in Rochdale but it was his message on Gaza that rang loudest.

He has vowed to speak out on Gaza in parliament, challenging Labour, which initially gave full backing to Israel following the Oct. 7 attack. The party has since shifted its position to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Galloway, a colourful figure who became well known after he impersonated a cat on a reality television show in 2006, will try to exploit Labour’s divisions.

“I want to tell Mr Starmer above all, that the plates have shifted tonight,” he said. “This is going to spark a movement, a landslide, a shifting of the tectonic plates.”