Labour 'apologises to the people of Rochdale' after George Galloway by-election victory

• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer apologised to voters in Rochdale for withdrawing the Labour candidate Azhar Ali

Labour has apologised for not fielding a candidate in Rochdale after George Galloway swept to victory in the by-election - which the party warned will stoke "fear and division".

Sir Keir Starmer's party said Mr Galloway "only won because Labour did not stand" after it dropped its candidate Azhar Ali for making anti-Israel comments.

Mr Ali had apologised after he was recorded suggesting Israel was complicit in Hamas’ October attack.

Mr Galloway, one of Britain’s most divisive politicians, claimed victory in the Greater Manchester seat, gaining almost 40% of the vote in a contest mired in chaos and controversy and dominated by the Gaza conflict.

The former Labour and Respect MP, who now leads the Workers Party of Britain, took aim at the Labour leader in his victory speech focused on Palestine.

“Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You have paid, and you will pay, a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.”

He also declared “Labour is on notice” and a “shifting of the tectonic plates” away from Sir Keir’s party.

Labour had been expected to win the by-election triggered by the death of Labour MP Tony Lloyd, but its campaign was thrown into disarray by a leaked recording of Mr Ali’s inflammatory remarks about Israel, seeing Mr Galloway become the firm favourite for the seat.

Mr Ali remained listed as the Labour candidate as the party’s decision came too late for ballot papers to be changed.

After the by-election result, Sir Keir restated Labour’s apology, telling broadcasters: “Galloway only won because Labour didn’t stand a candidate.

“I regret that we had to withdraw candidate and apologise to voters in Rochdale.

“But I took that decision. It was the right decision. And when I say I changed the Labour Party, I mean it.

“Obviously we will put a first-class candidate, a unifier, before the voters in Rochdale at the general election.”

Ellie Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator, said: “George Galloway is someone who stokes up division and fear. This isn’t how we would have wanted this by-election to play out.”

The MP also suggested suggested Labour would not change its position on the Middle East war, calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Left-wing pressure group Momentum said Sir Keir’s “failure to stand with Gaza in its hour of need left the door open for George Galloway”.

“To avoid any more damaging repeats, Starmer should end the factional abuse of Labour’s selection processes and stand up for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester said the city region would stand up to anybody who sought to "bring division or hate".

Commenting after Mr Galloway's by-election win he said: “Labour has let the people of Rochdale down because it didn’t give them a good enough choice at the election held yesterday.

“It’s right that the leader of the party has apologised to the people of Rochdale but we will now work with him and his team to make sure there is some reflection on what has happened, some honesty, so that we can all come together and work together to regain the trust of the people of Rochdale, and that is exactly what we will do working with the leader of Rochdale Borough Council.

“We pride ourselves on being a city region of diversity, of solidarity. We have a large Muslim community but the biggest Jewish community outside of London, and the leaders of both of those communities work together, and we pride ourselves on the cohesion between the different communities in Greater Manchester.

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

A spokesperson for the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “George Galloway has an atrocious record of baiting the Jewish community.”

They added: “Given his historic inflammatory rhetoric and the current situation faced by the Jewish community in this country, we are extremely concerned by how he may use the platform of the House of Commons in the remaining months of this Parliament.”

Mr Galloway’s majority of 5,697 votes amounted to 18.3% of the total, on a turnout of 39.7%, a little higher than the two recent by-elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood.

The surprise runner-up was David Tully, a local businessman and independent candidate, who secured more than 6,600 votes.

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