General Election: George Galloway loses seat as Rochdale elects Labour MP

Former MP George Galloway failed to show up to the election count in his constituency as he lost the seat he had held for a little over three months.

The Workers' Party of Great Britain leader was beaten by Labour's Paul Waugh by a little more than 2,000 votes in Rochdale.

As the declaration was made Mr Galloway was nowhere to be seen, with all candidates other than him on the stage.

Instead he took to social media network X to thank those in the constituency who “gave me 54 sitting days in the last parliament as their MP”.

Following the defeat he said: “I thank the people of Rochdale who gave me 54 sitting days in the last parliament as their MP.

“Big thanks to my agent, my campaign team and the thousands who voted for me today.

“We took the government party to within 1,500 votes and serve notice on Labour that we are here to stay in Rochdale.

“We will field a full slate of council candidates, establish a full-time office there, campaign to re-open the maternity ward and A&E, and keep up the pressure on Labour in the town.”

Mr Galloway was elected in a by-election on 29 February after the death of veteran Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd, who had held the seat since 2010.

Voters were left with an unusual choice after Labour withdrew its support for their official candidate Azhar Ali following comments he made about the 7 October attacks on Israel, but he remained on the ballot paper as the deadline had passed.

The by-election was won by Mr Galloway on a pro-Palestine ticket, with Labour finishing fourth.

Results in full:

• Paul Ellison - Conservatives - 4,273

• George Galloway - Workers Party of Britain - 11,587

• Michael Howard - Reform UK - 6,773

• Andy Kelly - Liberal Democrats - 2,816

• Martyn Savin - Green Party - 1,212

• Paul Waugh - Labour - 1,3027