Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
At almost 70, with his previous election victory more than a decade past and his profile pushed even further to the fringes of British politics, a few months ago it would have seemed improbable that rabble-rouser George Galloway had a hope of making yet another comeback.
But a perfect storm of factors that destroyed the traditional Labour vote and prevented rivals making headway cleared a path for the 69-year-old to be able to parachute into Rochdale and win a convincing majority in Thursday's by-election.
Despite his four decades in politics being littered with controversy, voters were given a rogues' gallery of options to vote for.
Rochdale has been beset by scandal, campaigns have imploded and the candidate for the Workers Party of Britain seized his opportunity.
Campaign tactics
Mr Galloway used his tried-and-tested campaign strategy to woo voters.
The veteran politician was able to target a deprived town with a large Muslim population by combining the conflict in Gaza with hyper local issues such as maternity services, the fortunes of the local football team and the town’s desire for better shops.
It may paint a depressing picture of how the cost-of-living crisis facing Britain led to a firebrand politician like Mr Galloway being able to win votes by offering the budget fashion store Primark as a prize, but it worked.
Galloway is very good at generating noise and publicity. This is his modus operandi and it has been successful again
Joe Twyman,
Deltapoll
Tony Blair's former political secretary, John McTernan, believes his use of promising to “get a Primark for Rochdale” alongside Gaza can not be ignored.
“It surely tells us a lot. For one, there is now a real expression in parliament of the country’s desire for a ceasefire in Gaza – which our parliament has totally failed to channel,” he said.
Co-founder and director of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, Joe Twyman, said Mr Galloway’s well-oiled campaigning machine was able to make the most of the Gaza issue while not ignoring local factors.
He said Mr Galloway’s campaign leaflets to the Muslim community focused on Gaza and to other areas it was local issues, such as health services and high-street regeneration.
“George Galloway has always been a fine, strong orator,” he said.
“In [previous by-elections in] Bradford and Bethnal Green he had some success mobilising some sections of the Muslim community. The situation in Gaza provides him with a perfect opportunity to do that. He has used it in Rochdale to target Muslims angered at the situation in Gaza.
“Galloway is very good at generating noise and publicity. This is his modus operandi and it has been successful again.”
Open door without Labour
It is now the seventh time Mr Galloway has been elected to parliament.
His victory underlines the divisions in Britain over the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its fifth month and has brought protesters on to British streets in support of both sides.
Mr Galloway won 12,335 votes compared with 6,638 for second-placed David Tully, an independent candidate.
The former Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, came fourth after the opposition party pulled its support for him after he was recorded espousing conspiracy theories about Israel.
Mr Twyman told The National that a "lack of knowledge and understanding" of who Mr Galloway is could have aided him, alongside the fact the Labour Party was forced to cut ties with its own candidate.
He doubted Mr Galloway would have made such inroads if Labour had been able to campaign properly.
Rogues' gallery of candidates
Historically a Labour seat, the by-election should have offered up an easy task for the party to win again, until its candidate, Mr Ali, suggested Israel was complicit in the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
It left the party with no option but to withdraw its support and they were taken out of the running.
"It has been a difficult situation for Labour to deal with but it has been all of their own creation because they didn't sufficiently vet their own candidate," Mr Twyman said.
Other remaining candidates included Simon Danczuk for Reform UK – he was previously suspended from the Labour Party for sending explicit messages to a 17-year-old girl and blocked from standing again.
The Green Party was also forced to withdraw its support of its candidate Guy Otten after he reportedly criticised Islam and the Gaza conflict.
When The National visited Rochdale earlier in the week, voters repeatedly said they felt let down at the selection of candidates.
“I don’t think there has been a dull day in this by-election yet, every one of the candidates has done something,” said Farah Khan, who previously supported Labour.
“To go from someone as amazing as our former MP Tony Lloyd, to what is on offer now, is such a shame."
Past controversies
A former Labour politician, Mr Galloway was expelled from the party in 2003 for attacking Tony Blair over the Second Gulf War, labelling the leadership “a blood-splattered, lying, crooked group of criminals”.
It was not his only brush with controversy. He sparked outrage after he was filmed telling Saddam Hussein: “Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability.”
It earned him the title of “MP for Baghdad Central” from his political foes.
In 2009, he set up the Viva Palestina charity to run aid convoys to Gaza. But in 2013, an investigation by Britain's charity watchdog found “little or no evidence that humanitarian aid was distributed to those in need”.
In 2019, he was sacked by British radio station TalkRadio amid accusations of anti-Semitism over a social media post directed at Tottenham Hotspur, a football club with traditionally strong support among the Jewish community.
After the club’s defeat in the Uefa Champions League final, Mr Galloway said there would be “no Israel flags on the cup”.
No national impact
Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester, Robert Ford, said Mr Galloway’s victory is likely to be short-lived.
“Rochdale has been used as a football in an argument about Islam and Gaza,” he told The National.
“What happened there will not have a meaning nationally. People will try to interpret this result but the circumstances there have been so strange, the list of candidates was so strange. It is not representative of the national picture.
“He ran it on Gaza versus domestic issues. He does two things: uses an external foreign policy issue with a broader focus on a local issue. He has done the same in Rochdale.”
Mr Twyman told The National: “I do not think this result will damage a general election.
“The specific local factors here would be difficult to replicate. But it is the worst-case scenario for Labour as it gives publicity to George Galloway who consistently has been a thorn in the side of past Labour administrations.
“But in the long term it is difficult to see how this could have a significant impact on a general election but there is no doubt that in the meantime, Galloway will remain in the public eye and will be lapping up the publicity.”
Galloway's 'divisive' campaign
The leader of right-wing Reform UK, Richard Tice, said the campaign had been marred by intimidation and abuse of his party's candidate and campaigners, describing the vote as a "shameful contest ... more characteristic of a failed state". His party's candidate came sixth.
Alan Mendosa, director of think tank the Henry Jackson Society Alan, told The National Mr Galloway ran a “divisive” campaign that will raise alarm bells nationally.
“While George Galloway’s victory obviously owed something to the Labour candidate being disowned by his party over anti-Semitism, his margin of victory will alarm anyone in the UK concerned about the rise of sectarian politics,” he said.
“Galloway’s winning message was hateful and divisive on the issue of Gaza and he placed it front and centre of his campaign to appeal to a specific section of the local population.
“If others start following this trend and pandering to local opinion rather than upholding principled national interests, Galloway’s victory could portend a sea change in British politics and the way this country has historically seen itself.”
Rochdale by-election: George Galloway storms to victory - in pictures
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Francesco Totti's bio
Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
First season 1992/93
Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
Goals 307
Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: Barack Beach, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Way Of Wisdom, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Woodditton, Connor Beasley, Ahmad bin Harmash.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Secret Trade, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.50pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Mark Of Approval, Antonio Fresu, Mahmood Hussain.
9.25pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Tradesman, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Five%20calorie-packed%20Ramadan%20drinks
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERooh%20Afza%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20contains%20414%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETang%20orange%20drink%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%20300%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECarob%20beverage%20mix%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%20about%20300%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQamar%20Al%20Din%20apricot%20drink%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20saving%20contains%2061%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EVimto%20fruit%20squash%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%2030%20calories%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg
Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg
Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg
Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg
Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg
Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Abdipatta Abdizhali (KGZ)
9. Featherweight 66kg
Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
