George Galloway warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s problems “just got 100x more serious” after securing a stunning victory in the Rochdale by-election.
Mr Galloway won 40 percent of the vote, as Labour’s disowned candidate collapsed into fourth place after being suspended during the campaign.
In a passionate victory speech, George Galloway warned that his win was “for Gaza”.
The controversial and divisive politician will return to the House of Commons for the first time since 2015, after previously defeating the Labour Party twice before.
Rochdale’s new MP said the result was proof that the plates of British politics “shifted” last night.
He told the election counting hall: “Keir Starmer’s problems just got 100x more serious than they were before today”.
“This is going to spark a movement, a shifting of the tectonic plates in scores of Parliamentary constituencies.”
“Keir Starmer – this is for Gaza. And you will pay a high price, in enabling, encouraging and covering for, the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.
“Rochdale town councillors, I put you on notice now, that I hope to put together a grand alliance…”
In a moment symbolic of the by-election’s divisive campaign, Mr Galloway was interrupted by a furious woman, accusing him of being a “climate change denier” before being shouted down by chants of “Galloway! Galloway!”
In a single reference to the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak, Mr Galloway said the PM and Labour leader are “two cheeks of the same backside, and they both got absolutely spanked tonight!”
Mr Galloway secured 12,335 votes, around twice that of second place independence candidate David Tully.
The Conservative candidate, who went on holiday during the election campaign beat Labour into four place with 12% to Azhar Ali’s 7.7%.
Mr Ali refused to show up at the election count.
Reform UK placed a disappointing sixth place with just 6.3% of the vote. Mr Farage blamed the poor result having failed to “mobilise” soon enough, allowing independent candidate David Tully to galvanise the anti-Galloway vote.
The party’s President said: “By the time Simon Danczuk had mobilised his campaign, a local independent candidate had set himself up as the anti-Galloway vote and has clearly done very well”.
“Not a great result for Reform, however a very deeply disturbing, worrying vote for politics and our future.”
Both Mr Farage and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that Sectarian politics “has arrived” in Britain.
Reform’s Richard Tice claimed the by-election had been plagued with ‘menacing and threatening’ behaviour.
He claimed that the vote was neither “free nor fair” due to the behaviour of “certain candidates”.
George Galloway rejected claims he had been responsible for any intimidation during the campaign, accusing the Reform UK leader of having “lost [his] balance”.
He also remarkably claimed Mr Tice previously texted him inviting me to be the Reform UK candidate in another by-election.
He warned: “If he doesn’t stop telling lies about me, I’ll start telling the truth about him”.
