"We Are Here To Stay": Rochdale MP George Galloway After Losing Poll (Photo @georgegalloway)
As the UK’s Labour party swept the 2024 election, Rochdale MP and former labour party leader George Galloway lost his seat, from where the veteran politician won a landslide victory during a by-election few months ago. Galloway was defeated by Labour party candidate.
The pro-Palestinian former MP, who founded the Workers Party of Britain in 2019 and was elected to the lower house in February this year after taking a consistent stance against the Gaza war during the campaigning despite the Labour Party withdrawing its support for him.
However, Galloway lost to the Labour Party’s political journalist candidate Paul Waugh. Waugh secured 13,027 votes while Galloway managed to accumulate 11,587.
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Taking to the social media platform, after his defeat, the maverick former MP thanked the people of Rochdale for providing him with 54 sitting days in the last parliament as their MP. He also thanked his agents, campaign team and all those who voted for him in the election, adding that they took the government party to within 1500 votes. The former MP further wrote that they are there in Rochdale, and would “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.”
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 1500 votes and serve notice on Labour that we are here to stay…
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) July 5, 2024
Galloway was expelled from the Labour Party in 2004 due to his opposition to the Iraq war. He was then elected as an MP from Bethnal Green and Bow in east London. He also served three years as MP for Bradford West.
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In February’s by-election, after winning the Rochdale, Galloway nudged the Labour Party chief Keir Starmer, stating that his victory was meant for Gaza. The Labour Party had initially refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza amid the devastating Israeli offensive.
“You have paid and you will pay a high price for the role you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in … in the Gaza Strip,” he said after winning the election back then.
The Workers Party Leader had accused both the then-ruling Conservatives and the Labour Party of supporting Israeli atrocities in Gaza and had run a pro-Palestinian campaigning in the constituency, leading to his victory in the by-election in February.
