George Galloway wins sweeping Rochdale by-election, says 'this is for Gaza'

Former Labour MP and left-wing politician George Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election by a landslide, calling it "a shifting of the tectonic plates".

Galloway won 12,335 votes, or 39.7 percent of the total, in a striking 5,697 vote lead over his closest rival, independent David Tully.

Following a campaign that was heavily focused on the war in Gaza, Galloway called out the Labour party in his victory speech.

"Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza," he said. "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 Gaza, in the Gaza Strip."

Labour, which had withdrawn its support from its candidate due to his comments claiming that Israel loosened security prior to the 7 October attack, received only 7.7 percent of the vote.