Labour’s self-sabotage leaves Rochdale byelection up for grabs

Azhar Ali launching his Rochdale byelection campaign on 7 February, five days before his party disowned him. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

It was the arrival of George Galloway that Labour feared would cause the party the biggest headache in the Rochdale byelection at the end of the month.

But in the end it was Labour’s own candidate, the Lancashire county councillor Azhar Ali, who has sabotaged what should have been a safe Labour seat (majority: 9,668) and made a Galloway victory a slightly more likely prospect on 29 February.