Who should the good people of Rochdale vote for in the by-election to be held next week? They are truly spoilt for choice.
Should it be the former Labour choice, suspended from the party over allegations of antisemitism? Or the Conservative candidate, who was not in the constituency knocking on doors a week before the vote but on holiday?
Maybe Reform UK? Its predecessor, the Brexit Party, came third last time round and its candidate is the town’s former MP. But wait, he was also previously forced to apologise for sending inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old girl.
The Lib Dems? Maybe, but one of their campaigners has been suspended for apparently campaigning for a rival. The Green candidate will be on the ballot but has withdrawn after Islamophobic comments were uncovered.
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Besides a good clutch of independents and the Monster Raving Loony Party one name is left, and it is that of one of the most controversial figures in British politics — George Galloway.
The bookies now believe Galloway is favourite to win the seat, where he is campaigning almost purely on his stance on the conflict in Gaza.
By-elections are often fought on local needs — housing, high streets, roads and bins. But Galloway posters are stuck in many shop windows and large billboards in Palestinian red, black, white and green are adorned with his face. He has said he would speak on Gaza first in parliament before moving on to Rochdale’s issues.
At a hustings on Thursday — the only one of the by-election after one planned by the BBC fell apart when only two candidates turned up — Galloway played to the crowd.
“From the river to the sea,” he bellowed, with some members of the audience joining in, before going on to explain that he wanted to see one state called either Israel-Palestine or Palestine-Israel where “every person, Muslim, Christian, Jews, [would be] an equal citizen”.
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The event had already provoked controversy before it began. Only four candidates were invited to Wardleworth Community Centre for the hustings — Azhar Ali, formerly Labour; Paul Ellison, the Conservative choice and a previous Rochdale man of the year; Iain Donaldson, a Lib Dem former university administrator; and Galloway.
The organisers said this was for reasons of prominence and included those who “may be able to respond effectively to issues of concern at the moment being raised predominantly within the Asian and Muslim communities in Rochdale”.
Of those, only two turned up — Ali had agreed to attend but pulled out at 2.30pm on the day. Ellison had also agreed to attend, but backed out two days before.
Simon Danczuk, the Reform UK candidate who was the Rochdale MP, albeit under Labour, from 2010 to 2017, attempted to force his way in, in what organisers said was a “publicity stunt”. The presence of private security guards in a community hall with a basketball net on the wall and folded tables piled up in the corner suggested they had anticipated tension.
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After being stopped at the door Danczuk argued with a former colleague over Palestine, called the event a “put up” and accused the organisers of being “Galloway stooges”, which they denied.
He told those stopping him from entering: “This shows you and Galloway in an exceptionally bad light. It shows that you’re killing democracy in Britain today.”
However, the chairman of the hustings said that was not the case. He told the crowd: “It’s important to note that this event has not been organised by any particular organisation or any charity. This is essentially a group of friends who have come together [to organise this].”
He added: “Absolutely nobody … has been barred or banned from the hustings, everybody had the opportunity to register to attend.” One other candidate, the Rev Mark Coleman, an independent, did register and sat in the audience. He was allowed to address the room for two minutes at the end.
The two-hour event ran through local and national issues, with the cost of living and Rochdale’s closed maternity unit high on the agenda. Housing was also a key theme after the death of Awaab Ishak, two, in a mouldy flat, and tackling of grooming gangs was discussed. On occasions Galloway was allowed to speak for longer than the time limit set by the chairman.
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It was the last section — international issues — where Galloway was in his element. Rising up out of his chair, he said: “I’ve lived through more ceasefires than I can count, and they always end up with the Palestinians being murdered over and over again.
“It’s an end to the occupation we need, not just of Gaza but of all Palestinian lands.
“What will I do? I will speak like this for you in parliament in a way that nobody else will. And maybe in a way that nobody else could.
“I will go into the House of Commons like a tornado ten days from now if you elect me, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will be terrified as they see me coming through the doors.”
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If Sunak and Starmer are terrified, they are not the only ones. Galloway has repeatedly and strongly denied he is antisemitic, but it is clear Jewish groups would not welcome his election.
Daniel Sugarman, the director of public affairs at the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he was “extremely worried” about the prospect. The Campaign Against Antisemitism has said Galloway acts to “divide” communities.
• Labour is being held to ransom over Gaza
A source who had previously been involved in campaigns where Galloway also stood said: “You wouldn’t wish a George Galloway campaign on any town. It’s a complete circus but not a good one. It’s sinister, threatening and jaded.”
They added: “Once he finally packs up the circus he leaves damage and division in his wake, and good people pick up the pieces.”
However, Mohammed Shafiq, one of the most prominent Muslims in Rochdale, said: “Politics is divisive — he’s not a perfect human being, he’s made mistakes in his life as a politician, but is his heart in the right place when it comes to Palestine? Absolutely.”
Shafiq said his daughters, aged 22 and 19, were engaged in politics for the first time and said it was an “insult to the voters” to say they could not engage with democracy on issues that matter to them.
It is not as if Rochdale is a stranger to controversy. Child sexual abuse — whether via grooming gangs or the former MP Cyril Smith — and social-housing scandals have kept it in the headlines. “For a small town we seem to be in the news way too many times,” said one man in the town centre who did not want to be named.
He said he would probably back Galloway because of the Gaza issue. “It has to be top of the agenda,” he said. “I think the other thing is that he’s only standing for six months and after that he’s not going to be here so it is a vote against Starmer really. It’s the fact that there’s so many civilian deaths.”
But for others Galloway’s presence had overshadowed the deep-seated issues the town faces. Susan Heaton, 68, said the town was “just disgusting”, pointing out a group of young men drinking in the street at midday.
“They [the candidates] don’t live in Rochdale, they don’t know us, they don’t care, they just come here get their 80 grand a year then go off to the next place,” she said. “This used to be such a nice place. It’s so rundown, isn’t it, and it never used to be.”
Derek Turner, 69, wanted to see the new MP tackle the cost of living crisis. “I’m a pensioner, and I don’t even get any pensions credit, and you get all these druggies asking you for money,” he said. He was also concerned about levels of immigration.
Rochdale’s younger voters were less sure. Liam Dunne, 35, said that the Conservatives hadn’t done a great job recently. “I’ve always voted Labour,” he said, adding that he would still be backing Ali because he thinks it is the “right thing to do”.
Arron Crook, 27, said: “British democracy is a joke. I don’t like the Tories, I don’t think Labour or the Liberal Democrats are any better. We need a reform, a younger government, not too young but young enough to know what it’s like to be my age and a working-class person rather than being a Tory who was born into wealth.”
However one man not keen to stop and chat in the town centre maybe summed up the thoughts of most voters: “I’m sorry, love, but I really can’t be arsed.”
