LONDON: Veteran left-wing political maverick George Galloway won a vote to become the new lawmaker for the English town of Rochdale on Friday, vowing to be a thorn in the side for the opposition Labour Party before a national election it is tipped to win.
After running a pro-Palestinian campaign, Galloway won over many of Rochdale’s Muslim community by attacking both Labour and Britain’s governing Conservatives for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas, making a foreign conflict the major issue — unusual in a by-election when local concerns usually dominate.
Elected to parliament for the seventh time, Galloway will be an irritant to Labour, a party he once belonged to before being ejected for criticizing then-prime minister Tony Blair over the Iraq War. He even went so far as saying the assassination of Blair would be “morally justified” for Britain’s involvement.
His victory underlines the divisions in Britain over the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its fifth month and has brought protesters onto British streets in support of both sides.
More than 30,000 people have been killed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say. This follows an attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel on Oct. 7, when Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 254 taken hostage.
British lawmakers have faced threats to do more to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza.
With the national election later this year, Galloway’s return to parliament will be short-lived but explosive. He has accused Labour leader Keir Starmer of being in the “pocket of Israel.”
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 from him after he was recorded espousing conspiracy theories about Israel.
“(Labour leader) Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza,” Galloway said in his victory speech.
Turnout was low at 39.7 percent.
It will be the first time Galloway’s left-wing Workers Party of Britain has been represented in parliament.
For some in Rochdale, a former cotton mill town near to Manchester, the so-called by-election, triggered by the death of Labour lawmaker Tony Lloyd last month, had failed to offer them a clear choice of someone determined to help their town, ranked in the top 5 percent most deprived English local authorities in 2019.
Galloway also campaigned to reinstate maternity services in Rochdale but it was his message on Gaza that rang loudest.
He has vowed to speak out on Gaza in parliament, challenging Labour, which initially gave full backing to Israel following the Oct. 7 attack. The party has since shifted its position to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
It is a headache Starmer could do without. He has struggled to maintain party unity over its position on Gaza. He avoided having to put the divisions on show last week when his party was allowed to put forward its own stance on a ceasefire.
Galloway, a colorful figure who became well known after he impersonated a cat on a reality television show in 2006, will try to exploit Labour’s divisions.
“I will go into the House of Commons like a tornado... if you elect me. (Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will be terrified as they see me coming through the doors,” he told voters, according to the Times newspaper.
